A Dragon Rebellion
by eeveegirly
Summary: Lucy Heartfilla comes back to find her best friend not dead but her love missing. What happened to Natsu? Who is this shadow? While Lucy tries to uncover the secret behind Natus's disappearance the rest of Fairy Tail prepares for a war. Can they truly win this war? Find all of this out and more in A Dragon Rebellion. (Sequel to A Quest for McGarden)
1. Chapter 1: A Startling Discovery

**Here it is! The sequel to A Quest for McGarden. Hope you all like it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail... which saddens me**

Chapter 1: A Startling Discovery

 _Natsu, please be alright,_ Lucy thought as she looked out the window of the train she was watching. Normally she enjoyed the views on trains, she loved how the scenery looked as it whizzed by, but today she was too worried to really look at the scenery. Wendy had contacted her and told her that Natsu had been mind controlled by someone working for a council and they weren't sure if he would ever wake up again. Porlyusica had a theory that Lucy might be the key to wake him. So, naturally, Lucy got onto the next train home. Still, even though she got onto the next and quickest one, it would take several hours. Looking next to her she sighed, it seemed so weird not having the pink haired salamander next to her nearly puking. _If he never woke up I don't know what I would do with my life. I've already lost my parents, I can't lose the one I love too,_ Lucy thought sadly. She had been begging whatever god would listen to please let Natsu be alright.

Once the train stopped she rushed over to the guild as fast she could. _Natsu, I'm coming,_ Lucy thought as she ran. Each step was harder and harder, each one spiked her anxiety even more. What would she find once she got the guild? The last she heard from Wendy Levy still hadn't come back to the guild either. What if Levy was dead? What if she couldn't wake Natsu? There was too many what ifs and she was frankly freaking out. Finally she arrived in front of the guild hall. Fear and anxiousness made her stay in one spot, she couldn't bring herself to walk inside. What if Natsu was dead? What if Levy never came back? Or what if she was caught by the council again? She fell to her knees, panic overwhelming her. She must go in! If she didn't then Natsu was sure to never wake up! That thought alone was enough to make her get up and press forward.

Opening the guild doors she heard people's shouts of pledging to join the resistance. _The resistance? Isn't that just an urban legend? I didn't actually think there was some group against the council,_ thought Lucy as she looked around. It would seem that it wasn't an urban legend and that there actually was a resistance. Why was Fairy Tail agreeing to this? What exactly had happened since she had gone on her job? Looking around she saw two girls at the front of the guild; one of the girls she didn't know, but the other one was none other than Levy McGarden. Relieved to see that her friend wasn't dead or taken by the council she ran toward her.

"Levy! Levy it's me!" Lucy yelled as she ran to give her best friend a hug. It wasn't exactly everyday,even in Fairy Tail, where your best friend came back from the dead.

"Lu-chan!" Levy said hugging her friend tightly. The two girls were thrilled to see that the other was okay. When they parted Levy decided to tell Lucy what was going on. "Natsu is in the infirmary, here let me take you to him, hopefully you can wake him up," Levy commented.

"Wait, before we go, what is this talk about a resistance?" Lucy asked confused.

"That's right, you've been gone on a job. Let me explain everything to you before we go in and see Natsu," Levy said before taking a deep breath and starting the story, "my suicide was faked because the council sent an assassin to try and kill me."

"WHAT?! WHY?!" Lucy asked alarmed. Were they just out to get Fairy Tail, and if so, why did it always have to be Levy they chose as their target?

"Because I am the leader of the resistance," Levy told her. Lucy looked at Levy shocked. How could she, her best friend, be the leader of the resistance without her knowing? How did she manage to keep it from all of them? "I started it when I was younger because I was brutally beaten and experimented on while in the council's care. They took me because I accidently killed my parents out of fear when I first got my powers. My parents were never nice people, they forced me to do things. I would take that though anyday over that the council did to me. It wasn't right what they did, I have scars to prove my story, and I'm not the only one. Tons of my members have scars a lot similar to mine on their own body. It is time we do something about it. Most of the Fairy Tail members have already said they will help me and my cause, will you?" Levy finally asked. She would love to have her best friend help her with something so important. Still, she wasn't going to force Lucy into anything she didn't want to do.

"I can't promise to help or anything till I know Natsu is safe. Plus this is a lot to take in. Did Natsu know?" Lucy asked curiously.

"He found out recently when looking into my suicide. I understand your concern, I would be the same way if it was Gajeel. Here, let me take you to him," Levy offered. Lucy nodded, it was now or never. Even though she was scared, Lucy had to see what kind of shape Natsu was in. Before they could actually go in and see how Natsu was Mira came running out. "Mira? What's wrong?" Levy asked concerned. Lucy was very concerned because Mira had just come from the same direction as the infirmary. Was something wrong with Natsu?

"It's Natsu," Mira said panting hard. What happened to her Natsu, Lucy wondered worriedly. "He's gone, I went back to check on him and he had just vanished. There was no window open or anything, it's like he was teleported out," Mira said looking worried and concerned.

"WHAT?!" Lucy screeched. Levy tried to calm her down but Lucy was now hyperventilating.

"What has the bunny girl so worked up?" Gajeel asked walking over to the three girls. Levy gave him a grateful smile.

"Lucy-san!" Wendy said running over to Lucy. Wendy then asked a calming spell that slowly made Lucy breathing go back to normal. _I least I can think clearer now, but this doesn't change the fact that Natsu has suddenly gone missing,_ Lucy thought to herself.

"Thank you Wendy," Lucy said with a small grateful smile. How could this have happened? She was so close to seeing him again only to have him taken from her.

"So, what exactly happened?" Gajeel asked.

"Natsu has suddenly gone missing without a trace," Mira informed the iron dragon slayer. Wendy and Gajeel both looked shocked at the news. It didn't really sound possible.

"Let us take a look," Wendy offered as she went to the infirmary with Gajeel. Levy and Mira stayed back trying to comfort a distraught Lucy.

Upon entering the room they noticed that the room smelled of something familiar. Something that they both hadn't smelled in a while, but what? "Do you smell something familiar but you haven't smelled it in a long time so you forgot what it was?" Wendy asked Gajeel. If he felt the same maybe they could narrow it down and figure out what the smell was based on things they have both smelled.

"Yeah, I do, but what? I normally don't forget how a person smells, but I have this nagging feeling that this isn't human. Which doesn't make sense, what else could it be?" Gajeel mumbled aloud. The sky dragon slayer nodded completely understanding what the other was saying.

"It isn't an exceed, we both would have known that right away because we both have one. Plus, exceeds can't teleport, not that I know of at least," Wendy said thinking aloud.

"I don't think this is a common animal or anything because then we would have recognized it," Gajeel stated.

"Exceeds are kinda common now I guess," Wendy commented deep in thought. Where had she smelled something like this? This was going to drive her crazy. "We better figure this out soon or Lucy-san will be very sad that Natsu-san is gone," Wendy said worriedly.

"I know that. Plus, I still owe Salamander a beating so I can't have him dying on me now," Gajeel said with a smirk. _Leave it to Gajeel to come up with that as a reason why he is helping someone,_ Wendy thought as she sweat dropped. _If only Grandeeney was here,_ Wendy thought wistfully. Then it hit her, why she recognized the smell. Gajeel had been right, it wasn't human and it wasn't common.

"The scent, it's dragon!" Wendy said suddenly. Gajeel smelled again and had to agree, it was all fitting now. The question still remained, why had dragons taken Natsu away? Why only Natsu and not them as well? This seemed to be getting just as complicated as Levy's 'suicide'.

"I agree, we should tell the bunny girl and the others," Gajeel stated. The two stepped out to where the trio of girls were. "We think he was taken by dragons," Gajeel stated.

"DRAGONS?!" Lucy, Mira, and Levy all said together. That wasn't something you heard everyday.

"How is that even possible?" Lucy wondered aloud. Gajeel shrugged, not really caring as long as Levy was safe.

"We don't know, but we are certain it was a dragon," Wendy told Lucy. Lucy sighed, how was she to get Natsu back NOW?!

"I am so sorry Lucy, if I had been watching him maybe he wouldn't have been taken. It's my fault he was in there to begin with. I shouldn't have gotten you all involved," Levy said guiltily. This time it was Gajeel's turn to do some comforting. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head gently.

"No one blames you love, we just need to find him. I know you want to go but you can't, you have a war to wage. Please, let them find him and you focus on making the world a better place," Gajeel told her lovingly. This freaked the other people out a little, mainly because Gajeel wasn't the loving type. None of this decided to bring this up though for fear of invoking the wrath of Gajeel upon them.

"It was never your fault Levy, I don't blame you and I know Natsu wouldn't either. Everyone is so glad you are okay and you need to focus on taking over the council. I am going to focus on finding Natsu," Lucy said with a small, weak smile.

"What's this about Natsu being missing?" Gray asked walking up to the small group.

"Natsu just disappeared. I went to check on him and he was gone. Gajeel and Wendy say dragons took him," Mira explained to Gray.

"Well if Lucy is going to look for him, then so am I," Gray said. Lucy gave him a grateful smile, it would be easier having someone as powerful as Gray come along.

"I'll go too! I know dragons and have dragon slayer magic, so I will be useful," Wendy told them confidently. Both Gray and Lucy nodded thankful for the help.

"I would help, but I am going to help Levy," Gajeel told them. _Understandable,_ Lucy thought.

"I am going to stay as well. No doubt Erza will need my help with training," Mira stated.

"I guess since Erza is helping with training she won't come. Oh well, it is nice to know that I will have help," Lucy said giving Gray and Wendy a weak smile.

"I will help you find where to look. I doubt it will take very long and the resistance can survive a little while without me," Levy said with a smile.

"Agent Queen seemed very effective," Wendy commented remembering her time meeting the agent. She had been very nice and spoke highly of Levy.

"She really is. Now come on Lu-chan, we need to find out where he may be. The quicker we find that the quicker we get to Natsu," Levy said.

"I will help as well," Mira said and with that the three girls went to Fairy Tail's resorce room.

"Dragons, who would have thought that after all this time of us looking for them, they would find us," Gajeel commented.

"It is kinda crazy, but why Natsu? I have a feeling there is more to thing than meets the eye," Gray said. The two dragon slayers couldn't agree more. _But I don't really care, as long as I have a chance to see Grandeeney again,_ Wendy thought with a smile. First Levy went missing and now Natsu, well, there never was a dull moment in Fairy Tail.

 _ **Where exactly is Natsu? Can Levy, Mira, and Lucy find out where he may be? Find that out in the next chapter.**_

 ** _Please Review!_**


	2. Chapter 2: The Search Begins

**This story is so much fun to write! I hope you guys are enjoying it as well...**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail... which saddens me greatly**

Chapter 2: The Search Begins

"So, where should we begin?" Lucy asked the two other girls. The takeover and solid script mage both looked around at all the thousands of books. Levy and Mira practically lived there while Lucy tended to only be there when her and her team got into trouble.

"Where do you think Mira? Probably maps, don't ya think?" Levy asked Mira. Mira nodded and began to look around.

"Now where did I put those maps," Mira mumbled as she looked around. As she was looking she happened to trip causing a pile of books to fall on top of her. "AH!" she yelled and tried to get up.

"Are you okay?!" Levy asked running over to help Mira up. Lucy walked over to help, but something on the top of the pile of books. The book in question read Maps of Earthland.

"Is this the book we want?" Lucy asked holding up the book so both Levy and Mira could see.

"Yes! Looks like my clumsiness actually helped something for a change," Mira said with a smile. The three girls then moved to the crowded table. With all of the books on the table Levy had to clear it so the three girls could look at it. "Now that I think about it I haven't really seen a map of Earthland, only of Fiore," Lucy commented.

"That is common of the council. A couple years ago they had a lot of the main big maps burned. They claimed it was to stop the encouragement of illegal immigration, or really immigration at all. Of course it really was for the means of greater control over the people. Found that out through secret documents I grabbed during my first imprisonment," Levy explained. The two other wizards looked rather impressed at Levy's vast amount of knowledge on this subject.

"You really know your stuff Levy, but I don't get one thing," Lucy wondered aloud, "if the council burned all of the maps how do we have this one?"

"Great observation by celestial friend," Levy said grinning. One thing Levy loved was people who showed an interest in knowing more. "You see, the council overlooked guild, thinking they would mainly have local maps since guilds normally took local jobs. This guild happened to be one of the ones who was able to keep this book," Levy explained to the two of them.

"You aren't the only one who has valuable information Levy. Because I work for sorcerer weekly I get tidbits about some of the farther lands that they think I don't hear," Mira explained.

"Well, let's look at the map and see what all is out there," Lucy said a little jealous that her two friends knew so much. Then again, it was kind of Levy's job to dig up any dirt and bad stuff the council did as leader of the resistance and Mira just happened to hear things. Maybe she should listen closer.

When looking at the map they found that their world was a lot bigger than just the little country of Fiore. In total there was 15 countries: Fiore, Isvan, Principality of Veronica, Seven, Bosco, Iceberg, Minstrel, Midi, Desierto, Joya, Bellum, Sin, Caelum, Enca, and the Pergrande Kingdom. _**(A/N These are the actually names… Weird but true)**_ _How are we ever going to find Natsu,_ Lucy thought feeling defeated. She never knew there was so much out there. Sure she knew Bisca had moved from the west, but she never knew there was so much! "This is a lot," Lucy said amazed.

"Yes it really is," Levy said smiling at her awestruck friend. "Now, Mira, have you heard of any weird sightings in any of these areas? Try to think of some that are reptilian in nature," Levy to asked Mira. The white haired takeover mage thought for a moment.

"I think I have, let me see that map," Mira said. The memory of where it was foggy, but she did remember hearing that there were strange flying reptiles in an area of Earthland. At the time she figured it had been a new species, never once considering it might be dragons. Levy handed the book to Mira so she could examine it further. "Yes! Now I remember where it was! It was here," MIra said pointing to the island country of Caelum.

"Caelum? Like the celestial spirit?" Lucy asked confused. There were several times she had seen Caelum's key for sale, after all it was only a silver keyed spirit.

"It was probably named after him. I have no idea, I never found the records to the other countries. The council probably only has them in the countries," Levy said with a shrug.

"So you think he could be being held there?" Lucy asked. _That was a lot quicker than I expected,_ Lucy thought to herself. Not that it being fast was bad, it was quite the quicker they found him the quicker she could see him again.

"Possibly, if my memory is correct," Mira said with a sigh. Sadly Mira didn't have the best memory for these kinds of things. It certainly wasn't as good as Levy's.

"I will call Queen and see if she was anything on this stuff. Maybe some members of the resistance know something, we have people everywhere after all," Levy said before taking out her cell to call Queen.

"You have a cell phone?!" Lucy asked shocked. A cell phone was a rare luxray anymore, something few people had. Even she had never had one growing up.

"One of the few perks about leading a rebel organization," Levy said with a shrug. Before Lucy could question her more Queen had picked up the phone.

" **Hello? Levy? Is something wrong?** " Queen asked worriedly through the phone. Even though Levy had the power to call anyone anytime she rarely did so unless it was an emergency. Levy hated using her power in a careless way.

"Yes, my friend Natsu Dragneel has been taken from the infirmary. We have reason to believe that he was taken by dragons and that Ella's mind control is still affecting him. Here comes what I need from you, read? Can you see if there have been any rare sightings in Caelum? Narrow it down to things flying and replitalian like," Levy explained to Queen. It was time like these she was thankful for her power, even if it was a burden at times. If she could use her power to save and help Natsu than maybe it would make up for the fact she was the reason he . Plus, this could help the resistance. The existence of dragons… Did the council know?

" **I see, I will look into it. I will give you this information within the hour. How did it go with Fairy Tail, if I may ask before I go looking,** " Queen told her. Queen was always so formal, even with Levy. Personalism seemed to be her forte, which is why she was her vice.

"Thank you so much Queen, I don't know what I would do without you. It went well, nearly everyone is joining us," Levy told her happily.

" **Nearly?** " Queen caused Levy to laugh, nothing got passed Queen. People really should know that Queen ran more of the things than Levy, though Levy did do a lot as well.

"Nothing gets passed you, does it? Why you are my vice I guess. There is a small team going to look for Natsu, so they don't know if they can help us. When they find Natsu and take him back here they will help, most likely with Natsu's help as well," Levy explained to her vice.

" **I see, okay. I will get that information for you. Talk to you once I get everything, bye,** " Queen said before hanging up. Sighing Levy put away her phone. _Once this ends I hope she can find happiness and purpose,_ Levy thought sadly before walking over to the other two mages. The two seemed to be in a light conversation. _Will I be able to find purpose after this is all done?_ Levy wondered. The answer came to her quickly though, _I already have a reason, many in fact. I have Fairy Tail, Gajeel, my friends. Plus, I have this nagging feeling that people will look for me to build a new council and order after this is all said and done._

"So?" Lucy asked noticing that Levy had gotten back.

"Queen is going to look into it. She told me she will be back with us within the hour. We're in good hands," Levy said with a smile. No doubt Queen would something. Even if the rumors weren't actually Caelum, she would find where they were. Let's just say Queen was very loyal to Levy. Many of the resistance members were. They saw her as a mother figure and she saved many of their lives.

"I hope you are right," Lucy said worriedly. Despite the fact lucy was trying to act brave Levy knew that she was worried.

An hour later Queen called Levy back. "Hello?' Levy said answering her call. Both Mira and Lucy looked anxious to hear Queen's findings. Even Levy had to admit she was on the edge of her seat to know. They had to find Natsu quick, before the council knew about any of this.

" **Hello, it's me. Whoever told you the sightings are in Caelum are correct. I dug into and saw that the most frequent and most reported sightings have been near the volcano on the northeast side of the island, which makes sense if we are dealing with dragons. There is a cave within the volcanoes that the locals say houses monsters, or as I think, dragons. I am sending Harmony over there with maps to help out in the investigation. Finding someone to take them to the volcano might be hard since the dragons are feared by locals,** " Queen told Levy.

"Understood! Thank you so much Queen. Don't worry about the team, they are probably the best team to ever go," Levy said confidently.

" **I hope this ends up alright. I will see you when you come back to make battle plans. Keep me posted in how everything is going,** " Queen said before hanging up. Always so abrupt, but she kept the resistance a float which was more than enough to make up for it.

"So?" Lucy said who was actually on the edge of her chair. Levy couldn't help but laugh a little at Lucy's cuteness. Lucy really did love Natsu. It was so obvious, like when Gajeel and Levy had liked each other before they started to date. It was only a matter of time. Perhaps Gajeel was right and said that this would bring the two finally together.

"Queen found it. Turns out Mira was right, it was Caelum. Queen said that she is sending Harmony over with some maps, she thinks she has the place pinpointed as to where the dragons are keeping Natsu. Now the key here is to find a local to take you to that place, which Queen said would be hard. Turns out locals are scared of the dragons, calling them monsters," Levy explained to the two girls.

"I am sure someone will help you guys. For now we should focus on packing you guys up and buying you ferry tickets," Mira said. Lucy nodded still a little dazed that they have actually found not only Natsu, but dragons as well. _This is all happening so fast_ , she thought a little worriedly. Was this truly going to be where he was? Mira sensed Lucy's worry so she put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry Lucy, you'll find him. Natsu's father was a dragon so I doubt they mean any harm."

"Chances are they sensed Ella's strange magic so they wanted to help," Levy commented. Ella's magic was nothing to mess with that's for sure. Grateful for the concern, Lucy smiled at her friends. "Now come on, we need to tell Gray and Wendy and help you all pack," Levy told Lucy. The three of them went to go look for Gray and Wendy.

Upon entering the main guild hall they saw Gajeel and Gray talking while Wendy was talking to Lisanna. The guild seemed abuzz from this afternoons antics. "Gray! Wendy!" Lucy called. The two wizards called quickly made their way to Lucy wanting to know more about their new found mission.

"So? Did you find where the idiot might be?" Natsu asked. Lucy sweat dropped, it certainly made you feel nice when the one you loved was being called an idiot.

"If by idiot you mean Natsu, then yes. He's in a country called Caelum, Harmony is bringing some maps. We need to pack," Lucy told the two.

"I am already packed, Erza got me into the habit of always having something packed. I will go buy the ferry tickets while you two pack," Gray said before turning to leave. Erza does rub off on people, especially Gray and Natsu it seemed. It was like she was the big sister neither of them got to have.

"Well, I guess we should pack Lucy-san. Sounds like this could be a long trip," Wendy commented. Sadly Wendy was right, finding Natsu could prove to me a longer trip than Lucy would like.

"I will help you two pack. Queen texted me some stuff, like climate and stuff so you two can pack. It is a tropical climate. So, lots of water proof stuff along with short sleeves," Levy explained. The two girls nodded. Levy compiled a list of clothes and the three girls managed to get them all pack.

"Wendy? What is this?" Carla asked rubbing her eyes- she had just woken up from a nap. Wendy grimaced, she hadn't told Carla yet. No way was she letting Carla come though, too dangerous. The last thing she needed was for Carla to die.

"Well, Natsu-san has gone missing, we think he was taken by dragons for some reason, we haven't figure out why. Anyway, I agreed to go find him with Gray-san and Lucy-san. We think he is in Caelum, an island country," Wendy explained.

"Then I am coming too," Carla said firmly. _No! I can't let her come! It's just too dangerous,_ Wendy thought biting her lip.

"You can't, I won't let you," Wendy told her as she continued to pack according to Levy's instructions. Before Carla could protest Levy but in.

"Carla, I think it is best you let her do this one on her own. She'll be well protected," Levy promised. Carla didn't look so convinced.

"Carla, I promise you Gray and I will make sure she is safe the entire time," Lucy said. Even though Lucy didn't exactly agree with Carla not coming she knew that it meant a lot to Wendy. _If that is what Wendy wants I can't stop her, after all, she is the one helping me,_ Lucy thought to herself.

"Fine, but please be back soon. I will worry," Carla said, concern filling her voice. Wendy smiled and nodded before hugging Carla.

"It'll be okay Carla, I'll be okay," Wendy told her, holding her close. Tear welled up in both of their eyes, but before they could spill there was a knock at the door.

"That is probably Harmony with the maps," Levy said going to get the door. When she opened it she found that it was Harmony. "Come in Harmony," she said with a smile. Harmony nodded and walked in, handing the maps to Lucy.

"I hope these are useful in finding him," Harmony said, "I wish I could be of more help."

"No, no, this is very helpful. How are you doing?" Lucy asked concerned. Even though the poor girl was hurt she still brought them maps.

"A lot better, but agent Queen still has me doing errands like this instead of missions. That'll probably last a while though. Well, good luck you guys, good luck Wendy," Harmony said smiling at them all.

"Thank you Harmony, good luck to you too," Wendy said before Harmony left. "I guess we should go see if Gray has the tickets," Wendy said sadly. It sucked leaving Carla behind, but it was for the best.

"See you soon Wendy, be safe," Carla said hugging Wendy.

"I promise I will, I will be back as soon as I can," Wendy said before leaving with Levy and Lucy.

"She's all grown up now," Carla said as proud tears rolled down her face. _Is this how a parent feels when they watch their kid leave for the first time?_ Carla wondered.

Once the trio got to the guild they found Gray with the ferry tickets. "Ready to go guys?" Gray asked. The two other girls nodded. "Well, good luck to you Levy. Wish I could help but I have an idiot to find and bring home. Hopefully we'll be back in time to join in with you all," Gray said with a smirk.

"Yeah, but safety should be your number one concern," Levy told them. They all agreed to stay safe as they left. Before they were out of sight Lucy turned around and did the guild signature salute. Levy did the same back, tears rolling down her face. Why must saying goodbye be so hard?

"You're worried about them, aren't you?" Harmony asked.

Sighing Levy responded, "Of course I am, they are my best friends."

"We have bigger things to worry about, come on. We have a lot of planning to do," Harmony said motioning for Levy to follow her into the guildhall. _I hate to admit it but she's right, we have a war to plan. Be safe guys,_ Levy thought before following Harmony into the guildhall.

 _ **How will Fairy Tail prepare for the upcoming war? Will Lahar finally hear what the council is REALLY up to? Find all that out and more in chapter 3: preparations**_

 _ **As always, please reiview!**_


	3. Chapter 3: Preparations

**This one has some sweet GaLe in it, so I hope you all are ready for that! This is the longest chapter from both this story and A Quest for McGarden. I hope you all enjoy reading it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail... which saddens me greatly**

Chapter 3: Preparations

Levy entered back into the rowdy guildhall. _Now starts the real work,_ Levy thought to herself. "This is needed. Don't worry about them, they'll find Natsu. Right now you need to worry about getting ready for this upcoming war. Everyone is looking to you for that," Harmony reminded her. The pressure on Levy was certainly high.

"I know, but I can't stop worrying. You should know me better by now than to think that I will actually stop worrying about my friends. Now come on, we need to talk to master and Erza," Levy told Harmony.

"I get why you are going to talk to them, but why me?" the poison dragon slayer asked.

"Because you can tell Queen our plans once we are done, now let's go!" Levy said grabbing Harmony's hand and dragging her before she could complain. Harmony was the one that she was acting as Queen's erran person. Therefore, she should listen in and report back to Queen.

As they were walking to go see master and Erza Harmony kept mumbling, "Stupid Queen." This made Levy laugh to herself. One of the worst things about being leader was she didn't get much personal interaction between her and her troops. Luckily she had been able to make a connection with people like Harmony- mainly because Harmony reminded her of Wendy.

"Stop grumbling," Levy said. Once they found master Levy launched into what she was going to say, "Master we need to talk to you and Erza. It is time that we make battle plans, or at least preperation plans. My troops are prepared for this battle, but I doubt everyone in Fairy Tail is."

"Understood, but why is she joining us," Makarov asked pointing towards Harmony, who was currently in Levy's tight grip. Harmony gave Levy a 'see' type look, but Levy ignored her. After all, she was the leader of the resistance, so Harmony actually did have to obey her.

"She is going to tell Queen, who is my second in command, what we have decided upon. It saves me a trip back down there and possibly coming back," Levy explained. Makarov seemed to agree, which caused Harmony to huff in displeasure. "Erza!" Levy called looking around the rowdy guild for the red haired wizard. Upon hearing her name Erza came walking over to where Makarov, Levy, and Harmony were.

"Yes Levy?" Erza asked.

"Master and I are going to start making battle preparation plans. I figured you would want in on the planning," Levy explained. Erza nodded, she had wanted to help the solid script mage all she could.

"Come with me children, let us go to a more secluded area," Makarov said leading Erza, Levy, and Harmony to a conference room. Harmony sighed, it was starting to look like she wasn't going to get out of this meeting. Curse Queen. "Okay, here we are. Now, how are we going to whip Fairy Tail into shape?" Makarov asked Levy.

"Well, I was hoping getting Fairy Tail into shape would be where Erza fit in. Could you put together a training program and get these fairies ready for battle?" Levy asked Erza.

"No problem, I can get them into shape in no time. Could you give me around a month or so?" Erza asked.

"I think we have a month," Harmony commented. If she was there she might as well put her input into it as well.

"Okay, so that should be good. You could ask Mira to help you as well. Can we get Cana to get ahold of Gildarts and have him come home? He would be a great help," Levy commented. Erza could only do so much.

"I will ask Cana to get ahold of Gildarts and Mira should be fine with helping with the training. I will talk to all the S-Class wizards to help," Erza told them. Makarov and Levy nodded, agreeing with her choice.

"Now then, that leads me to the next order of business. We need to talk to Lahar. Can you set up a meeting for me? I wouldn't tell him I am the one visiting, but do set up a meeting," Levy asked Makarov.

"I will try my best. Sooner the better I suppose," Makarov said. Both resistance members in the room nodded. "I will let you guys know as soon as I have set up the meeting when it is," Makarov told them.

"Is there anything else we need to talk about?" Erza asked curiously. Levy turned to Harmony, she couldn't think of anything else.

"I will let Queen know of everything. You know, she will want you to report back once you are done with your meeting with Lahar," Harmony reminded Levy. This reminder made Levy groan As much as she loved the resistance and Queen, it could be a pain to report back. Mainly because Queen was so professional.

"I know and I will," Levy promised her.

"I will let you know when I get the meeting made. Till then, enjoy yourself. I have feeling you won't get to do much of that till this war is over," Makarov told her.

"Thank you for all your help master," Levy said before bowing. After that she left to go find Gajeel. Might as well spend all the spare time she had with her wonderful boyfriend.

"She really is a great leader. Now, I will go make plans for the training program. We should start tomorrow, don't you agree?" Erza asked Makarov. Makarov nodded agreeing. Time was of the essence and they couldn't afford to waste a single second of it. "I will go start planning right now with Mira. I will talk to you later," Erza said before leaving to find Mirajane.

"My kids really are growing up fast," Makarov said with a sigh. His own grandson was growing up faster than he thought was humanly possible. Then he went to go make an appointment with Lahar for Levy.

"Gajeel!" Levy called as she looked around the noisy guildhall for her boyfriend. Where on earth could he be?! Before she could think much else she saw Jet, Droy, and Gajeel all in a fight.

"No way am I letting you run off with our Levy," Jet hissed at Gajeel.

"I don't remember ever asking your permission!" Gajeel snarled back. Levy giggled to herself and she had to cover her mouth so the boys wouldn't hear her. _I didn't know these guys were STILL fighting over me,_ Levy thought with a slight laugh.

"Well we ARE her most trusted friends and partners!" Droy said through his mouth full of food.

"Yeah! That's right! You may be her boyfriend but we mean more to her than you ever will! We've known her longer!" Jet backed up his partner. Levy sweated dropped before thinking, _Gajeel probably knows more about me than those idiots ever have._

"So that's why she turned you guys down but asked me out herself?" Gajeel asked them with a smirk. Levy blushes at the memory of that.

*flashback*

"G-G-Gajeel, can I ask you something?" Levy asked Gajeel blushing nervously. Today was the day, today she was going to ask out Gajeel. Levy could feel her legs shaking from fear.

"You already did shorty," Gajeel said as he continued to drink his beer. Sure he had a thing for the pixie like girl, but that didn't mean he had to TELL her. Besides, he tried to kill her once, why would he go for her?

"I will take that as a yes," Levy said, still bright red. This made no sense, why was she so red?

"Take it however you want to," Gajeel grunted. _Why can't this adorable cutie just spit it out already?!_ Gajeel grumbled in his head. Wait, did he just call her an adorable cutie? With that thought he took another swig of his beer.

"Willyougooutwithme!" Levy blurted out all at once. This made Gajeel blink, not understanding what the pixie like girl was trying to say. Seeing the confused look on Gajeel's face Levy sighed and decided to try again, this time much slower. "Will you go out with me? As in on a date," Levy asked her face at least 50 different shades of red. This only made Gajeel even MORE confused. Was it Levy's imagination or was he even blushing a little? Black steel Gajeel was brought to a blushing mess by some weak solid script mage? If the others ever heard about this… "I'm sorry I asked, I should have known better. Just forget about it," Levy said choking back tears. She was just getting ready to leave when someone grabbed her arm.

"Please don't go," Gajeel said quietly. This made Levy turnaround, had Gajeel ACTUALLY say please? "Honestly, I have liked you for a while now, but I thought you wouldn't go for me since I did try to kill you a while ago," Gajeel answered truthfully. _If Gajeel knew what I had really been through he would know that that little bit of torture had been nothing and easily forgivable,_ Levy thought to herself but let Gajeel continue. It wasn't often you got to hear Gajeel really say what he was feeling. "Yes Levy, I would love to go out with you," Gajeel said with a smile. The smile, and the fact he called her by her real name and not 'shorty', made Levy melt. From then on the two wizards were almost inseparable, everyone knew they were dating. Not only dating, but happily together. Probably would be married soon.

*end of flashback*

 _Is that why they are fighting? Did Gajeel let it slip he wanted to propose to me? No, that can't be. I always figured I would propose to him, after all, I did ask him out,_ Levy thought as she continued to watch.

"It isn't our fault, she just wasn't ready to date," Droy mumbled as he stuffed more food in his face. Did he ever stop eating? With all the food he was stuffing in his mouth it was hard to make out what he was saying.

"Or maybe you two just weren't the guy for her," Gajeel stated bluntly. Gajeel was right, Levy could never bring herself to fall in love with either of the boys. They were too much like brothers to her to hold any romantic connection.

"Why you! I will never let you have her!" Jet said as he went to tackle Gajeel. This made Levy panic, even together the two of them could NEVER take on Gajeel. It was time to step in before this fight got out of control.

"Don't I have a say in this?" Levy asked stepping out of the crowd and in front of the three guys.

"Levy!" Jet and Droy both said at once. Immediately upon seeing Levy they both felt bad. What they were doing wasn't exactly the best thing to be doing. Gajeel smirked at the other two before wrapping his arms protectively around the short girl.

"Hey darling, how did the meeting go?" Gajeel asked placing a kiss on her neck. The two other guys glared at Gajeel while Levy blushed and giggled. It was a while ago that Gajeel found out Levy had a weakness for neck and forehead kisses.

"It went well actually. Erza is setting up a training program for everyone and master is setting up a meeting with Lahar for me. I think he will be a valuable ally," Levy explained to her boyfriend.

"TIll then, you busy?" Gajeel asked hopefully. Gajeel's sudden change in demeanor shocked both Jet and Droy. _Maybe he really does love her enough to marry her,_ Jet thought to himself. Looking at the two of them happily in love, you couldn't help but smile. Even the two idiots who were still trying to win her over.

Levy faked a pout before saying, "I am actually." This shocked Gajeel. What else was there to be done? Master was setting up the meeting and Erza was probably having Mirajane help her with the planning. So why was Levy busy? "Well, you see, I have this big hunk of a boyfriend and I was hoping to spend some time with him. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?" Levy asked innocently. Gajeel laughed his infamous laugh while smirking.

"I might, but what's in it for me?" Gajeel playfully asked. Even Jet and Droy couldn't deny the chemistry between Levy and Gajeel. It was just like what people saw between Natsu and Lucy, if only the two could pull their acts together!

"I don't know," Levy said wrapping her arms around his neck, "maybe a kiss?" Gajeel couldn't say he didn't like the sound of that.

"Deal," Gajeel said before capturing the smaller girl's lips as his own. Levy gave a small squeak of surprise, just quick enough for Gajeel to stick his tongue in. Desperate to deepen the kiss Levy quickly accepted him in. She missed kissing him so badly. Between guild work, resistance work, being trapped in jail, and faking her own death they hadn't had much time just the two of them. She knew Gajeel didn't blame her, but she couldn't help but feel guilty. He was the love of her life and yet she had been so busy she couldn't spend time with him. Before they could get much deeper into their make out session Jet and Droy decided to make themselves known.

"Get a room!" Jet yelled at them two of them. It was bad enough knowing the two of them were dating they didn't have to rub it in. The two separated, Levy blushing madly and Gajeel as mad as they come. He never took kindly to people interrupting his makeout sessions with Levy, least of all Jet or Droy.

"No one told you two you had to watch ya perverts, now get lost," Gajeel snarled. _Why does this always happen?_ Levy wondered sighing.

"Gajeel, please try to be nice," Levy said sounding tired of it. Every time Gajeel and her tried to have a moment at the guild the two wonder twins- as Gajeel had dubbed them- had to ruin it. If Levy was completely honest, it was getting on her nerves as well. Couldn't those two just move on already?! Before Gajeel could reply the master came, making Gajeel groan. Now he never was going to get to make out with his shorty. "What is it master?" Levy asked the short old man.

"Lahar wants to meet up right away. Since I am the one who called the meeting he is very concerned. I told him I would be on my way as soon as possible, so he is waiting for you. I would take some people with you, just to be on the safe side," Makarov told Levy. Even though she was chosen to become and S-Class mage, she knew that using her full strength was dangerous. The one sad thing about her power was how deadly it could be if used at full strength, so she was constantly holding back. Rarely had she even used her full strength- and that was only if she had somehow lost control.

"Right, but who to take," Levy mumbled to herself.

"Chose wisely but quickly," Makarov said before leaving the blue haired girl to herself.

"I am coming," Gajeel demanded. Levy sighed, she saw that coming. Though the blue haired wizard didn't want him coming, it was useless to argue with him once he made up his mind.

"FIne, you can come, but I should probably take more than one person. I know you are strong Gajeel, but you veres the council is not a risk I am willing to take," Levy told him firmly. Gajeel nodded, he had to agree. "But who," Levy said, sighing in defeat.

"We'll go!" Jet and Droy both shouted. After she heard Gajeel give a low growl, low enough that the other two didn't hear it but no low enough to hide it from Levy, she decided they weren't the best fit. Besides, she would never forgive herself if something happened to them.

"No, I could never forgive myself if you two got hurt. Plus, you two would only fight with Gajeel and that would cause more harm than good," Levy pointed out. Sadly the two couldn't argue with them.

"Juvia will go. Since Gray-sama left to find Natsu Juvia has been lonely. Juvia might as well go with you to get Juvia's mind off of it," Juvia stated smiling. Levy grinned, she loved having Juvia around. Sometimes she got annoying with how she constantly went on about Gray, but Levy could handle the other girl. Besides, without Juvia, Gajeel probably wouldn't have joined Fairy Tail. Levy really owed a lot to Juvia.

"Okay!" Levy said smiling at Gajeel.

"I don't mind," Gajeel simply stated. Juvia had been his partner for a while and he had a certain level of respect for the girl. Despite her ditzy behavior, Juvia was strong. Perfect for protecting his Levy.

"The Phantom Lord duo? Levy are you sure about this? They could end up hurting you again," Droy stated. The comment stunned Levy, hurt Juvia, and made Gajeel very mad.

"WHY WOULD I HURT LEVY?! I AM IN LOVE WITH HER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Gajeel was rare to see Gajeel say something like that in public and it made Levy blush.

"Plus there is no way Juvia would hurt me, she has proved herself time and time again to the guild. Take that back Droy, that was extremely hurtful," Levy scolded him. Even Jet had to admit Droy had gone too far this time.

"Sorry," Droy mumbled half heartedly. Levy sighed, she didn't have time for their antics.

"Let's just go guys. We don't have time to waste, Lahar is waiting for us after all," Levy reminded the duo who would be accompanying her.

"R-right," Juvia said as her and Gajeel followed Levy to the train station. "If only Gray-sama was here," Juvia sighed dreamily.

"If only you would stop talking about him," Gajeel grumbled. The trio then boarded the nearest train and headed to the main council building. "How are you going to get in anyway? You are wanted after all," Gajeel reminded Levy.

"I know, that's why I brought this," Levy said pulling out a hooded cape. She then put it on. The cape hid her face well, you couldn't tell it was Levy.

"Good idea!" Juvia said. Levy gave them both a smile as they waited till they arrived. _Please Lahar,_ Levy thought, _please agree with us. We could use your help and influence in this war._

Once they arrived at the council building Levy took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing,_ Levy thought as she entered with Gajeel and Juvia. "Makarov?" Larhar said as the Fairy Tail wizards entered the building. Lahar got up from where he was sitting and walked towards them. "Did Makarov send you three?" Lahar asked them.

"Yes and I suggest we go somewhere more private," Gajeel suggested. No way could Levy reveal who she was and why they had come in the council's own building, that was just asking for trouble. Then again, them just being there was asking for trouble to begin with.

"Of course," Lahar said motioning for Doranbolt to follow them, "you wouldn't mind if he comes, would you?" Juvia and Gajeel looked at Levy, who only gave a small nod of approval. Doranbolt was secretly resistance after all, having him would help.

"Of course not, he can come," Juvia said with a sweet smile. The five of them then proceeded to go into a secure room. "Is this room secure of under surveillance?" Juvia asked.

"It is secure, now what is the meaning of this? Why you three? And why so secretive?" Lahar asked confused. Fairy Tail wasn't exactly known for stuff like this after all.

"Maybe this will make more sense," Levy spoke for the first time since they got there, taking off her hood. Doranbolt and Lahar's eyes got wide upon seeing the solid script mage.

"Arrest her Doranbolt," Lahar said in a dangerous tone. _I knew this wouldn't be easy at first,_ Levy thought with a sigh. She also knew that Doranbolt wouldn't arrest Levy, he was too loyal to her.

"No, Lahar, hear her out," Doranbolt said. This surprised everyone in the room but Levy. Doranbolt had done a good job to make it seem like he was extremely loyal to the council. Really, he was just loyal to Lahar- his old friend.

"She is the leader of the resistance, what could she possibly say that is worth hearing?" snapped Lahar. _He'll come around, his sense of justice runs deep,_ Levy observed.

"Maybe why I joined," Doranbolt said, shocking everyone but Levy again. How open he was being with all of this did shock Levy however. Originally he didn't want any of this to hurt Lahar or get to Lahar. Seemed like everyone in the resistance knew it was nearing the time for them to finally act.

"You're part of the resistance?!" Lahar asked shocked and more than slightly hurt. How had he not known?! Why would Doranbolt go against the council like that?!

"Listen to her, if you do I promise you will agree with what she is doing. If you don't then you can arrest both Levy and I," Doranbolt told him confidently. _Let's hope this works,_ Levy thought worriedly.

"Fine, proceed Mrs. McGarden," Lahar said firmly. Levy smiled gratefully at Doranbolt, he was a valuable person to have among her ranks. She could only hope that she didn't mess everything up.

"The council isn't what you think it is Lahar. They torture and experiment on people, as well as hurt people for just going against them without actually committing any crimes," Levy stated flatly.

"You're lying, the council would never torture anyone. You have no proof," Lahar accused her. _Wrong thing to say,_ Levy thought bitterly. If there was one thing she hated was when people told her she had no proof. Levy herself was living proof, as well as other members.

"You want proof of their torture? Fine, I will give you proof," Levy stated, her voice wavering in anger. This shocked everyone in the room. Lahar because she had proof and everyone else because of the anger that laced her voice. With that Levy took off her top, she was only wearing her bra and shorts after that. Doranbolt flinched and looked away, he couldn't bare to see those scars anymore. Juvia held back tears as she gazed upon the broken body of her dear friend. At first Gajeel blushed at seeing Levy in only her bra, but then felt an ache in his chest followed by anger after seeing the scars. Lahar merely gaped at all the damage done. Levy didn't even blush at all of them seeing, her eyes showed anger beyond that of caring that she was in her bra.

The body that was making them all so upset was covered in scars. It was obvious some of them had been deep gashes at one time. Some of the scars were still an ugly purple. Small puncture wounds, caused by very large needles no doubt, covered her stomach- mainly around her pantline. On her back there were words carved into it that read as follows: murderer, stupid rebellious filth, unloveable. On top of the words and ugly purple scars, there were tiny scars that looked like they were shallower cuts- these were more frequent. They all also noticed areas that looked like they had been burned badly at one point. Juvia had to look away as tears fell, Doranbolt refused to look, while Lahar and Gajeel couldn't take their eyes off of her. Both of them could only think one thing, _the council did this?!_

"The council did all of this. I accidently killed my parents when my magic power first unleashes itself, I had no idea what I was doing. Instead of teaching me control, like they should have, they experimented on me to amplify my power. They tried to make me a human weapon because I was so powerful at such a young age. The succeeded, my power rivals that of the ten wizard saints, but I have to keep it in check and under control. I still don't have full control over all my power. Lahar, are these the kind of people you want to serve? Do you wish to continue in their service knowing that they did something like this to an innocent girl? I am not the only one either. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have a good reason," Levy told him firmly. "Look up why I got arrested, I am sure you will find it unjust to put me into prison and torture me without a trail," Levy challenged. Lahar could only nod, still too stunned to say anything. As he was looking it up Doranbolt spoke again.

"Please put your shirt back on Levy-sama, it hurts just looking at it," Doranbolt choked. _Poor Doranbolt,_ Levy thought and obeyed.

"It's okay now," Levy told him. Doranbolt finally looked back over, relieved to see that all her scars were covered. Levy the turned to Gajeel and said, "If you want to leave me because I am just too ugly I understand and I won't hold it against you. Just please, say something." The way her voice wavered- it was obvious she was holding back tears- made Gajeel come back to life from his frozen state. He held Levy close to him, kissing her forehead.

"I could never leave you Levy, you are the only person I have ever loved. We will take over the council. I won't let them hurt you like that anymore," Gajeel said determinedly. He then kissed her gently on the lips, making Levy smile.

"It says here you were arrested for speaking out against the council, but that can't be right. That isn't a crime, or at least shouldn't be," Lahar said turning back to Levy. Lahar had to admit he was glad that Levy had her scars covered, he wasn't sure he could handle seeing them much longer.

"Exactly my point. I want to make a council where things like this will NEVER happen. If you join me I would be more than happy to let you keep your position or offer you a higher one. I admire you Lahar and it would be an honor to have you in my resistance," Levy told him. Lahar thought about Levy's offer. _Could she really take over the council?_ Lahar wondered. "The more people we have the more likely it is that we can take over the council," Levy stated. Sometimes it seemed like Levy could read minds, she always seemed to know exactly what to say in the moment.

"Fine, I will support you and your cause. I will also talk to some of my troops that I think can help us," Lahar told her. Levy grinned happily. _We just might win this war after all. Everything seems to be falling into place,_ Levy thought excitedly. Her dream may finally come true! Levy gave Lahar her and Queen's numbers.

"If you ever need to get ahold of me my number is the first one. The second on is the number for agent Queen, she is my second in command. Please give her updates and only contact me if it is serious," Levy explained to Lahar. Lahar nodded understanding. "Thank you both so much, we will contact you soon with instructions. It will most likely be Queen. Warning she is very professional, but she is nice. Please, be safe," Levy told them both.

"We will Levy-sama, thank you," Doranbolt said before both him and Lahar bowed. Levy then left with Juvia and Gajeel. _Best of all,_ Levy thought with a smirk, _I was able to do all of this undetected. Take that Doma._

 ** _Now that we know what Fairy Tail is doing, along with who is looking for Natsu, who is ready to see what exactly happened to Natsu? Find out what happened to Natsu in chapter 4: Dragon's Nest_**

 ** _Please review!_**


	4. Chapter 4: Dragon's Nest

**I know you guys are probably all wondering what happened to Natsu and you all are going to find out now! Please enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail... which saddens me**

Chapter 4: Dragon's Nest

Slowly Natsu began to open his eyes. His head felt all fuzzy, what exactly had happened? Then it all came flooding back, Ella had brainwashed him and Gajeel. Not only that, but Levy had kicked his and Gajeel's butt. Guess she was the leader of the resistance for a reason. Hadn't Gajeel taken him back to the guild's infirmary though? If that was the case, why did the ground feel hard. Not only hard, but rocky too. Where was he?! Fighting through the pain he sat up to look around. It seemed he was in some sort of cave. Wherever this cave was it was HOT in it. Good thing heat didn't affect Natsu very much though. The cave reminded him of growing up with Igneel.

"Good, you're awake," came a painfully familiar voice. Natsu turned his head to see none other than Igneel. "Grandeeney was starting to worry," Igneel said walking toward where Natsu lay. _How is Igneel here?! And did he just say Grandeeney? As in Wendy's dragon?_ Natsu wondered. The entire situation made his head hurt. He was terribly confused. What did this all mean? "You look confused," Igneel stated flatly.

"Yeah, I am. I mean, you're alive? I have spent years looking for you and now here you are, right in front of me. Just seems a little too good to be true, ya know?' Natsu explained to Igneel. Natsu had looked for Igneel for years and now here was, in front of him, like it was no big deal. For years he had imagined this moment of seeing him again, but never like this.

"I am sorry that I couldn't contact you sooner, but it wasn't the right time," Igneel tried to explain. Wasn't the right time? The right time for WHAT exactly?

"Right time for what exactly? Igneel, I don't really have time for this. The resistance is probably going to attack the council soon and I need to help with that. Not only that but Lucy is probably worried," Natsu said, a slight blush appearing his face at the mention of Lucy.

"Is this Lucy your human mate?" Igneel asked Natsu curiously. Skiadrum never mentioned Natsu having a girlfriend. Igneel had been having Skiadrum spying on Natsu for a while now, so he should have seen something. Hadn't he told Skiadrum over and over to report things like that?

"No! No it's nothing like that. I like her, but it wouldn't work. She doesn't like me, we're just friends," Natsu explained. By the time he was done explaining his face blend in with his hair. So Skiadrum just didn't pick up on a crush. Skiadrum was never good with human emotion, but he couldn't send Grandeeney because Wendy was there. No doubt the sky dragon would talk to the human child she claimed as her own. Even if she would have been a better choice. The human girl might endanger everything. "Now, can you please tell me what's going on? How did I even get here?" Natsu asked still very confused. Yes, he was ecstatic about finally seeing Igneel again, but Igneel couldn't have picked a worse time to drop by. With an impending war on the magic council and his deepening feelings with Lucy, things were just starting to get good! Natsu knew he NEEDED to be able to help the resistance or the war may not be won.

"I had Skiadrum take you from that guild you were in, Fairy Tail I think he said it was. He has been spying on you, and since he is a shadow dragon, it wasn't very hard for him to," Igneel explained. _Skiadrum. Where have I heard that name before?_ Natsu wondered to himself. Then it hit him, that was Rogue's dragon's name! But how was that possible? Didn't Sting and Rogue say that they killed their dragons?

"Isn't Skiadrum dead? Rogue killed his dragon, didn't he?" Natsu said confused.

"No, he didn't. Skiadrum put false memories into Rogue so he wouldn't know that he had actually left. Grandeeney, Metalicana, and I couldn't bring ourselves to do that, so we just left. I am sorry for causing you such heart ache my son," Igneel told Natsu sadly.

"So you have been here this whole time. Where exactly is here though," Natsu said. It was then he decided to look around the cave. It wasn't where he grew up, he could tell by the smell. This cave was pretty dark, but he could see since his sight we so good. At the top of the cave was pointed rocks that dripped water every now and then. The entire area was damp from the dripping, damp and rocky. The only area that seemed dry was the area Natsu had just been laying down at previously.

"The island of Caelum," Igneel told him. _Caelum?_ Natsu thought, The name asn't ringing any bells. He couldn't remember any placed called Caelum. Wasn't that the name of a celestial spirit? "I don't think you have heard of this. Skiadrum says your magic council has kept other countries under wraps from each other. This island is the most secure. Which is why we are here," Igneel explained to the confused Natsu.

"I guess Levy isn't crazy when she said she would go against the council," Natsu stated shrugging. _I wonder how many countries there are,_ Natsu wondered to himself. "Speaking of Levy and the resistance, I really need to get back. Thank you for waking me up and looking after me dad, but I really do have to go. I have to help Levy. I have a feeling they are going to take on the council soon. When Ella was controlling Gajeel and me I heard her mention something about the resistance getting bolder. If they are going to attack soon then I need to be there to help," Natsu told Igneel bluntly. He really just wanted to get back so he could protect Lucy from any harm that may possibly come her way.

"I think you just want to protect your human mate, but I don't mind. Normally I would let you go, but I do need you here," Igneel told Natsu. _Why does he need me now? What is going on here?!_ Natsu thought worriedly. This was rather worrisome For seven years he looked for Igneel and now all the sudden he just shows up, something wasn't right. "You are worried. I am going to guess it is probably about why I brought you here," Igneel said. Even though Igneel hadn't been with Natsu for a long time, he still was Natsu's foster dad and still could read him. Natsu hadn't changed much over the years.

"Look like you can still read me as well as ever," Natsu said with a small smile. He couldn't lie, he had missed Igneel so much. Still, Natsu couldn't help but wonder about Lucy. Chances were Lucy was worried sick about him being missing. _She's probably looking for me like I looked for Igneel,_ Natsu thought sadly to himself. "You are dancing around the real problem. Why am I here dad?" Natsu asked. This entire thing was getting exhausting. Why was Igneel dancing around the truth anyway? What was the big deal?

Igneel sighed before saying, "Son the time has finally come to rise up and fulfill your role." _That's not ominous at all,_ Natsu thought to himself.

"What role?! Dad what are you talking about?" Natsu said getting nervous. How did he have a role he didn't even know about? What had Igneel gotten him into? "Dad, please tell me," Natsu said, his voice slightly shaking. Had he gotten Lucy into danger by her knowing him? Was he somehow valuable?

"Over the past 400 years we have had different humans serve as a human dragon prince. These princes are typically people who use dragon slayer magic. The last dragon prince we had was about one hundred years ago, it is time for another one," Igneel explained.

"What does this have to do with me? You want me to help you find someone to be a dragon prince? If you want someone who is already a dragon slayer I would suggest Sting. He goes dragonforce willingly and is a guild master of the former strongest guild in Fiore," Natsu explained his choice. Sting really did sound like the perfect person to be with 'dragon prince' guy.

"You are not the quickest person in the world still I see," Igneel said with a slight chuckle. Natsu just gave him his normal confused look. Igneel smiled, he had missed the child so much since leaving him all those years ago. "Natsu, we want you to be the next dragon prince," Igneel finally said. The sudden news shocked Natsu. Him, a dragon prince?

"M-me? Why me? Why has it taken you so long to find the next dragon prince anyway?" Natsu asked getting distressed. This could possibly take him away from Lucy. Just when he was getting up the nerve to ask her out!

"We needed to make sure the person is right and we believe you are the right person," Igneel tried to explain the distressed Natsu. "Don't worry about your human mate, we just need to train you. A month, at most," Igneel said trying to calm his son.

"And the upcoming war? What about that dad?" the fire dragon slayer demanded. _He doesn't even realize how much he loves this girl. Probably doesn't even realize just how much he cares about his partners either,_ Igneel thought fondly.

"Well, once you become our prince, we will do whatever it is that you wish us to," Igneel said. _Wait, does that mean I could have them help with the rebellion?! If Levy had dragons on her side she would be sure to win against the council! Plus, Lucy would sure to be safe,_ Natsu thought excitedly. Though, he needed to check that he could lead the dragons into something like that.

"So, what you are saying, is that I could have the dragons do whatever I wanted. Including helping the resistance with the war against the council?" Natsu asked trying to hide his excitement. He may be able to help not only Lucy but Levy and her cause too. It wouldn't hurt to get revenge on Ella either.

"If that is what you wish then that is what we will do," Igneel said with a grin. _I knew this would happen,_ Igneel thought smugly. Natsu was pretty easy to convince.

"Then I will do it," Natsu said with a sigh. What choice did he have? If he could help Levy and protect Lucy with this, then he couldn't let it get away. Igneel smiled at his son. Slowly Natsu walked over to his dad and hugged him tightly, tears falling. "I thought I lost you," Natsu said tearfully.

"I know son, and I really am sorry. There are some people I think you should meet," Igneel told him. "Well, maybe not people, but dragons." Igneel commented.

"Dragons? Who?" Natsu asked. He had never met any other dragons and it was exciting to think of what powers they could have. Though he doubted that he could get any other form of dragon slayer magic since he already had some, but seeing other dragons is cool all in itself. Not to mention that, but if Igneel was here then maybe Grandeeney and Metalicana were here as well.

"I think you may know the children they raised," Igneel gave a knowing smirk. When they first left the children they had no idea that they would meet later in life. The fact that they did was very amusing- it was like the band was getting back together. After all, their dragons were pretty close.

"Grandeeney and Metalicana?!" Natsu asked excitedly. He had always hoped that he would meet them.

"That would be them. Chances are they are waiting for us at the volcano's mouth," Igneel explained getting ready to leave.

"Wait? There is a volcano here?" Natsu asked curiously. Not only would he meet more dragons, but he would get to see a real life volcano?! That was wicked cool to him.

"Yep, that is where you will be doing most of your training. It may seem cool now, but by the time we are done you will become tired of it," Igneel told him knowingly. How could he become tired of a volcano?! It was a volcano for crying out loud! Needless to say, Natsu was brimming to the top with excitement. "Climb onto my back son, it is time to fly to the top. Soon you will be climbing to the top, but I don't want to push you so far yet. This cave is actually at the base of the volcano," Igneel told Natsu. Nodding Natsu obeyed what the dragon said and got onto his back. Once they got outside Natsu saw that there was thick forest around them. If he listening closely he could hear the chirping of birds and the hum of insects, something you didn't hear much in the city. He greatly enjoyed it as he took in the fresh air. "Hold on tightly," Igneel instructed, opening up his huge wings. Natsu did as they told and they took off toward the top of the volcano. Said volcano looked to be 6 stories tall as it towered over the island. Even the volcano had trees on it. Climbing it would prove to be a challenge, but Natsu was ready for it. Landing at the top Natsu saw two other dragons, one a white ish blue and the other a shiny black. No doubt these two were Grandeeney and Metalicana.

"Oh, I see your boy is up. I was starting to think he may never wake," Grandeeney stated flatly. Seemed that both of them were a little upset that only Igneel got his foster child.

"I know you are upset Wendy and Gajeel couldn't come, but if Natsu becomes our prince I am sure that you two can see your kids again, right Natsu?" Igneel stated looking at Natsu.

"Of course! Wendy and Gajeel miss you two very much, even if Gajeel won't admit it. Besides, if Levy does take over the magic council like she wants, then I am sure she would let humans and dragons interact all around the world. She is just like that," Natsu said grinning. This news seemed to perk the other two dragons up.

"The magic council is getting overthrown?" Metalicana asked curiously. Skiadrum had never mentioned anything like this before. The whole reason they were forced to leave their children was because the magic council threatened to kill the children if they stayed. If the magic council was to be overthrown then they could return to them.

"If Levy gets her way, but I think she may need our help. Once I become prince I plan on helping Levy with her plan," Natsu explained.

"If overthrowing them means I get to see Wendy again then you have my support," Grandeeney said determinedly.

"And mine, seeing Gajeel would be a pleasure," Metalicana said with a toothy grin. Natsu now saw where Gajeel got his grin, though Gajeel would never admit it. "We'll also be helping some with your training, not sure if Igneel told you that," the iron dragon told the soon-to-be dragon prince.

"No, he didn't, but I am excited to work with other dragons!" Natsu said excitedly. His excitement caused the three dragons to laugh and smile. It was nice to finally have a human in the dragon's nest. A human who wasn't terrified of them at least.

"Your training will start tomorrow, till then, you should rest," Igneel told Natsu. Natsu looked into the volcano, seeing the red hot lava a good ways down the surface. This caused him to smile, the color of the lava reminded him of his own magic and Igneel's warmth. It was still hard to believe he would soon be a dragon prince, but it was exciting all the same. _Please don't let this be a dream,_ Natsu thought to himself.

"Well I only have one thing to say," Natsu said grinning as his hands caught fire, "I'm all fired up now!"

 _ **Now that we know what happened to Natsu, let's check in with Lucy and the others. Will they be able to get to the volcano? Will anyone be willing to help them? Find all that out and more in the next chapter, Chapter 5: Caelum**_

 _ **Please review!**_


	5. Chapter 5: Caelum

**I really am not dead! Just busy. I hope you all like this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail... which saddens me**

Chapter 5: Caelum

"We will dock at Caelum in two hours," the captain told the passengers. Lucy sighed, two hours should be enough time for a nap. Who knew how long it would take to find a guide.

"I am going to take a nap before we get there. It may be a good idea for you guys to do the same," Lucy commented before going to the sleeping quarters on the ship.

"I think Lucy-san is right, I am going to try to sleep too," wendy told Gray.

"I couldn't sleep if I tried. Sweet dreams Wendy. I will wake you two when we dock," Gray told Wendy. Wendy nodded before leaving. Gray sighed and wandered the boat, looking up at the sky. Being near water only reminded him of Ultear and Ur. He looked down at the water, so close he could almost touch it. _Ur, I may have to face dragons now, can you believe it? Let's hope my ice make magic can keep up,_ Gray thought looking down into the water. _Don't worry though, I won't die, I still have to protect your daughter,_ Gray thought with a small smile.

"Gray?" came a voice from behind him. Gray stiffened as he turned around. In front of him was none other than Ultear.

"Ultear, what are you doing here?" Gray asked the time wizard. It had been a while since he had last seen Ultear and it was nice to see her again.

"I am just taking a break from all this crime fighting. What are you doing here?" Ultear asked curiously. It wasn't often she found the ice mage without his guild.

"Just doing a job with Wendy and Lucy, they are both napping now," Gray explained. No way was he going to tell her he was looking for dragons. If he did that she would want to go with him and there is no way he could insure her safety.

"Ah, I see. Want to have a drink with me? We do have two hours after all," Ultear said. Gray grinned, he couldn't turn that offer down.

"Sure, I'll have a drink or two, but I can't have too much. After all, I still have a job to do," Gray reminded Ultear. Ultear nodded and the two went to have a drink. Just two friends.

As Gray and Ultear were catching up Lucy was dreaming.

 _In the dream Lucy saw Natsu from a distance. "Natsu?" Lucy said, her voice barely above a whisper. Suddenly she became aware of her surroundings. Around her was a church and as soon as the doors opened people were standing._ Why are all these people here? Why are they standing up, _Lucy thought confused. It was then she looked beside her to find Erza on her arm, walking her down an aisle._ Walking me down an aisle… _Lucy thought till she suddenly realized what was going on._ I am getting married, _Lucy thought happily. All her life she wanted to be married, and now here she was, walking down the aisle with Erza. She looked down at herself and saw she was in a dazzling white dress decorated in the Fairy Tail symbol. Finally she looked ahead of her to see who she is marrying and who is her maid of honor. Turns out her maid of honor was none other than Levy McGarden, the resistance leader and her best friend. The groom was none other than Natsu Dragneel._ I. Am. Marrying. Natsu. I am going to be Mrs. Dragneel very soon, _Lucy squealed in her head. Natsu was smiling at her with one of those goofy grins, practically beaming at all this._

" _Are you ready Lucy?" Erza asked her happily. Lucy looked at Erza, who was crying from one eye out of joy for the blonde wizard. "First Levy and Gajeel, then me and Jellal, and finally you and Natsu," Erza said with a beaming smile._ So Levy got married! As did Erza! I really hope I am seeing the future! _Lucy thought beaming herself._

" _Yes, I am. I am way more than ready," Lucy said with tears of joy falling down her cheeks. When she got up Natsu she looked at him. He was in the same white suit that they had put him during the Grand Magic Games and it made him look stunning. "You look amazing," Lucy told him, blushing just how handsome her soon to be husband was._

" _Not as gorgeous as you my love," Natsu said taking her hands. Before any vows could be made her entire vision started to go black._

" _No," Lucy said reaching out to try and grab hold of Natsu. She couldn't reach him, she couldn't get to him. Everything was just black. "No! Natsu!" Lucy screamed out into the darkness._ I have to find Natsu, _Lucy thought._

" _Lucy," came a voice from the darkness. Sadly, the voice was not Natsu, but it was familiar. Lucy couldn't place it, but she wanted so desperately to get out of the darkness. If she got out of the darkness then she could find Natsu and get her future! "Lucy wake up!" the voice demanded more forcefully._

" _Okay. Natsu, I am coming for you!" Lucy yelled into the darkness before forcing herself to wake up._

"Lucy-san, are you okay?" Wendy asked Lucy. The current girl in question was drenched in sweat and was panting rather loudly, tears shown in her eyes. Losing Natsu was starting to take its toll on Lucy.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a nightmare," Lucy told them taking in deep breaths to calm herself. _So it was all just a dream… Still, I MUST find Natsu,_ Lucy thought as she calmed down. "I'm okay now. Thank you for waking me though," Lucy told them with a smile.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Gray asked. Gray's voice had been the one she had heard in her dream, the one that woke her up. Seemed only fitting that one of Natsu's best friends to be the one that saved her from the darkness.

"Yeah, I am fine. Are we there yet?" Lucy asked wanting to change the subject. Her dream was something she would keep secret for now. Probably only telling Levy once they find Natsu and return to Fairy Tail. Hopefully there would be time before the upcoming war Levy was going to have to deal with.

"Yes, we got there," Wendy told Lucy.

"Ready to go see Caelum?" Gray asked with a smile. No way Gray would admit it, but he was excited to see a place other than Fiore.

"Yes, let's go," Lucy said and with that that the trio got off to see what Caelum was like.

Once the trio stepped off at the port they couldn't believe their eyes. The port was located at a well known marketplace. Yells of the latest and greatest things made and grown were being shouted across the dirt road. Where they were being sold was made from what looked to be bamboo and dried palm leaves, not what they were used to seeing and Fiore. It was safe to say Caelum was more run down than Fiore. "So where exactly is Nastu?" Gray asked Lucy. The two girls, who were very over whelmed by the sounds, sights, and smells of the new area, both turned to look at him.

"Right! Queen said that he should be located in a cave in the volcano. That is where most of the sightings are, plus they are dragons, and it is too convenient that there is a cave there," Lucy explained to her two comrades.

"How do we get there then?" Wendy asked curiously. Said volcano was all the way over by the other side of the island. There was no way for the three of them to get to the volcano easily.

"That I do not know. I do have the maps Harmony gave us, but I am not sure if we can handle the terrain without getting lost," Lucy commented looking into the forest. Caelum was 90% forest, forest that none of them had ever encountered. Who knew what was in those forests.

"Why don't we ask someone from here to help?" Wendy offered.

"Queen said that it would probably be hard to find anyone to help because of the rumors about the dragons. Everyone is pretty spooked," Lucy explained. She didn't know which was harder, finding someone to help or facing the forests just the three of them.

"Hard and impossible are two different things. We should at least try," Gray told Lucy. Lucy sighed, Gray had a point.

"Fine, we will try, but if we don't have anyone by sunset then tomorrow we'll just have to brave it alone," Lucy said firmly. The other two nodded, but both hopped it wouldn't come to that. "Meet me here as soon as the sun starts to set. If you find someone before then, then look for the other two and we shall form a plan with the native as to how we get there, agreed?" Lucy asked.

"Agreed," both Wendy and Gray said before taking off to try and find someone. _Natsu, it'll be okay, we'll find you,_ Lucy thought before taking a deep breath. The city really did smell a lot of fresh baked bread and tons of spices, something they didn't smell a lot in Fiore. As much as Lucy loved Fiore, she had to admit Caelum was pretty amazing itself. Rundown, yes, but amazing nevertheless.

"Now where to look," Lucy mumbled to herself as she head out looking. Her stomach answered that as it grumbled in protest of not eating on the boat. "Trying some new Caelum food wouldn't be bad," Lucy decided as she headed to one of the food booths. After much decision she decided to try a little bread stand. Fresh baked bread sounded good, it had been forever since she last had it. Their servants back at the Heartfilla manner used to bake it for her when she asked, she had always loved it. Now she could never afford it. Somehow she thought that it was cheaper here at Caelum. "One piece of bread please," she asked the lady at the booth.

The lady beamed and starting making it saying, "You aren't from around here." Lucy shook her head. "Are you a journalist? Have you come about the dragons?" the lady asked her. _Does this lady possibly know something about where Natsu might be,_ Lucy wondered. It was then that Lucy decided to play along.

"Yes, I am a journalist. I am here to write a story about the rumors of the dragons. Do you know anything that may be helpful?" Lucy asked the woman hopefully. The woman thought it over, as if she was wondering if she should answer Lucy.

Finally she said, "I know very little. I do know that they are apparently around that volcano on the other side of the island. I am glad they are not around here." _Well, Queren was right at least, but that isn't new or helpful,_ Lucy thought frustrated.

"Do you know how I would get to the volcano? Perhaps someone who could take me there," Lucy asked hopefully. the woman shook her head. _Dang it,_ Lucy thought.

"No one is stupid enough to mess with dragons. Listen to me young lady, forget about the dragons. Is the story worth your life?" the lady asked handing Lucy her bread. Lucy took her and paid the lady- she had been right, the bread was pretty cheap here compared to Fiore.

"Yes, it is. Thank you for the information," Lucy said before walking away. She bit into the bread, it was warm and fluffy, simply perfect. Oh how she wished Natsu was there with her to enjoy the bread. _Please still be alive,_ Lucy plead as she finished her bread, _please_.

Sadly Wendy's search for Natsu wasn't going much better than Lucy's. Wendy wandered around trying to find someone, anyone who would listen to her. "Excuse me, sir," Wendy said tugging on the man's coat. The man turned to her. He was quite a bit taller than her and had dark skin, darker than they usually saw in Fiore.

"Yes little lady, are you lost?" the man asked her, "I haven't seen you around. Are your parents around?" Wendy sighed, this happened often to her. No one seemed to believe she was a wizard who could actually take care of herself.

"No sir, I came here with some friends. I was actually wond-" before Wendy could finish the man cut her off.

"Well you shouldn't wander off like that. I am sure they are worried sick about you," the man told her. "I'll help you find them if you want," the man said.

"No thank you. As I was saying before, I was actually wond-" again the man cut Wendy off before she could finish what she was going to say. It was getting on Wendy's nerves. She wasn't a little kid!

"Then you really ought to get going," the man said. He was just about to leave when Wendy stopped him.

"Please sir, don't go. I was actually wondering if you knew anything about the dragons. I heard a rumor that they were dragons near the volcano, that they were in a cave in the volcano. I was wondering if you had any incite in it. Please, it is urgent," Wendy plead.

"I am sorry young lady, I wish I could help, but I really do know nothing about that. Take it from me and stay out of it. A little thing like you would have no chance against a real life dragon," the man said. This made Wendy mad, after all, she was a dragon slayer. Sure she wasn't as strong as Natsu or as scary looking as Gajeel, but she was still a dragon slayer.

"Thanks anyway," Wendy said leaving the man. _Well that was no help,_ Wendy thought to herself with a sigh. How were they going to find Natsu if all they came across was dead ends? _Hopefully Gray-san and Lucy-san are doing better than me,_ Wendy thought before trying to get other people's attention.

Luckily Gray was doing a little better than the two girls. After several people ignoring him, several telling him to go home, and even more telling him he was crazy for even looking for the dragons, Gray was about to give up. "Is there anyone here who will help me?!" Gray yelled angry.

"Excuse me, sir, is there something I can help you with?" a person asked. Turning Gray saw a teen who looked to be around Wendy's age sweeping the steps of a run down building. The guy had brown hair, tanned, skin, soft red eyes, and worn out clothes. He seemed poor, which would explain why he was sweeping the steps, but genuinely seemed like he wanted to help. _It's worth a shot,_ Gray thought. After all, this kid may be his last chance.

"Do you know anything about the dragons that live in the volcano? My friends as I are trying to locate a friend and we think he may be there," Gray explained to the kid. The kid's eyes lit up.

"You look for the dragons?! I can take you there!" the kid said excitedly. Gray sighed in relief, finally, someone who could actually help them.

"That's great! Let's go meet up with my friends so we can make a plan. What's your name?" Gray asked the kid. _This kid seems really excited about the dragons while everyone else seemed scared, wonder why,_ Gray wondered. Surely there was a story there.

"My name is Cyprus," the kid told Gray. "Let me just tell my mama I am going out for a while so we can find your friends," Cyprus told Gray before putting up his broom and going inside. _He doesn't seem the least bit concerned,_ Gray observed. After a while Cyprus came back out. "Okay, let's go," Cyprus said. Gray nodded and they went to look for his friends.

Eventually the two boys found them both. Wendy had bought a necklace from the area- a tiny little dragon pendent- while Lucy was eating some fresh bread. "Want some?" Lucy offered some to bread to Gray.

"No, I am good," Gray said.

"Who is he?" Wendy asked pointing to Cyprus.

"I am Cyprus. I heard you needed someone to take you to the volcano to see the dragons and save your friend. Though I personally don't think he needs saving," Cyprus told them.

"Everyone is terrified of the dragons, why do you want to help?" Lucy asked him curiously. In order to trust him she first needed to know his reasons. Besides, the other two were curious as well. Being so excited about the dragons didn't seem very common on Caelum.

"Because they saved my life, so I want to see them again to thank them. If I take you three I have an excuse," Cyprus explained to them. _Sounds a lot like Natsu,_ Lucy thought to herself.

"Okay, you're in. Now, how are we going to get there?" Lucy asked Cyprus. Cyprus thought for a moment, evaluating all their options.

"I think I can have the car for tomorrow. The drive is about 3 hours long, a little quicker if I speed. There are some windy dirt roads that will take you, but you need someone experienced to get through them safely. Don't worry, I can easily get you there. What time should we leave?" Cyprus asked the trio. The trio looked at each other, they had not thought of when they would like to look for Natsu.

"We should get a good night sleep, how about at dawn tomorrow?" Gray offered. Lucy and Wendy both agreed, so finally Cyprus agreed too.

"Even though that is early I'll agree, I really do want to see the dragons again and you probably want to see your friend again I'm guessing. Do you three have a place to stay? Mama has a hotel that is pretty cheap," Cyprus told the trio.

"That would be great! I am Lucy by the way," Lucy told Cyprus realizing none of them had introduced themselves.

"Thank you for your help Cyprus-san," Wendy said bowing, "I am Wendy."

"Thanks again man, this is a big help. My name is Gray," Gray told Cyprus. Cyprus grinned, for once it felt like he had friends. Even if they were foreigners.

"Great, follow me," Cyprus said grinning. Cyprus lead them to the run down building where Gray had first met him. "Mama! I am back! I brought customers," Cyprus called. Coming running down the stairs was a plump woman who looked to be in her mid forties.

"That is great! Welcome! Welcome!" the woman said beaming at the trio. SUddenly the trio felt a little uncomfortable. Was it really that rare for them to get guests?

"I am showing them around the island tomorrow, can I borrow the car?" Cyprus asked her. _He didn't say we were going to the volcano, his mom must be as scared as the other people,_ Lucy noted.

"Sure thing son, you know where the keys are. I shall make dinner! Cyprus, show these three to their rooms," the woman said rushing off to the kitchen.

"Well, follow me," Cyprus said leading them to three small rooms. The rooms all had dirt floors and were only big enough for a bed and a dresser. It wasn't what the three Fairy Tail mages normally had, but it would do for one night.

"Thank you Cyprus-san," Wendy said bowing.

"I will call you down for dinner. Till then, you guys can get settled. I would go to bed after dinner since we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Cyprus told them before leaving them. The trio followed his orders and tried to get as settled as possible in the small cramped rooms. Lucy took out a picture of her and Natsu taken shortly after the whole Edolas situation. Hugging it she sighed. _We're coming Natsu, that's a promise,_ she thought before putting it back in her bag. "Dinner is ready!" Cyprus yelled for them.

"Lucy-san, are you okay?" Wendy asked concerned when Lucy came from her room. Lucy hadn't even noticed she had started to cry. Wiping her eyes she forced a smile on her face, being sad wasn't going to help anything.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Lucy tried to assure Wendy. Wendy didn't look like she believed her, but decided to nod and let it drop. When they got to the dining hall they found a bunch of food from chicken to beef and corn to beans. _Natsu and Happy would be in heaven,_ Lucy thought with a small smile. "This all looks so good," Lucy decided to say aloud. Both Gray and Wendy nodded in agreement.

"Dig in! Eat as much as you like!" the woman told the trio. Without being told twice they all started to dig in. The food was just as good as it looked, this woman was seriously a good cook.

"Thank you so much, will this cost extra? We wouldn't mind," Lucy told the woman.

"No, no, any friend of Cyprus's is a friend of mine," the woman told the three wizards. _She reminds me of Mrs. Wilson,_ Wendy thought with a smile. "You guys can pay tomorrow before you leave," the woman told them and then left them to eat.

"You're mother is very nice Cyprus-san," Wendy told him as she ate some chicken she got.

"She can be, normally she is when there are guest," Cyprus said, not bothering to explain himself further. "I am going to go to bed, goodnight," Cyprus said before leaving. Lucy sighed, she couldn't bring herself to eat, she was just too worried about Natsu.

"I think I am going to turn in too," Lucy said getting up.

"But you barely ate," Gray pointed out. Lucy just shrugged and left to her room.

"I am worried about Lucy-san," Wendy told Gray. Gray was too, but he couldn't let Wendy know that.

"I am sure she will be fine after we find Natsu, she is just worried," Gray said more confidently than he felt. _What if he isn't okay when we find him? Lucy would never forgive herself,_ Gray thought worriedly. He then shook his head, he shouldn't be thinking like that. "We should go to bed too, we have a long day tomorrow," Gray told Wendy ruffling her hair. Wendy nodded and then they both went to bed.

While those two were sleeping Lucy was holding the picture of Natsu to her chest and crying softly. _Please be okay, please be alive. I can't live without you Natsu, I really can't,_ Lucy thought to herself as she sobbed. She finally understood how Gajeel must have felt when he realized Levy was missing and in trouble. _It feels like you are dying,_ Lucy thought before drifting into a dreamless sleep.

 _ **While Lucy, Wendy, and Gray try to find Natsu, what is the resistance doing? Is everything going smoothly back home? Find out in Chapter 6: War is coming**_

 _ **As always, Please review!**_


	6. Chapter 6: War is Coming

**Wow, a little over halfway through this story and it is already longer than A Quest for McGarden. This story will be my longest so far... So I hope you all like it XP I loved writing protective Doranbolt in this as well as more interaction between Gajeel, Jet, and Droy, always a joy for me! Please enjoy!**

 **Warnings: Character death**

Chapter 6: War is coming

"So are you seriously going to support Levy and the resistance?" Doranbolt asked Lahar. Lahar stayed quiet for a while, not sure how to answer his question. His entire life he had believed in the council, in their justice, but here was someone who said they were actually the exact opposite of what he stood for. No matter how much he tried he couldn't get the image of Levy's scarred body out of his mind. How could he support the council anymore knowing they did that to a poor innocent girl?

"I have reviewed the files on Levy McGarden," Lahar started, Doranbolt waited for him to finish. "She was originally taken because she killed her parents. Upon further investigation it was found Mrs. McGarden was abused and her powers suddenly surfaced to protect her. She had no idea what she was doing, she had never intended to kill her parents. The official report is that she was taught to control her powers and was let go, even though she was only eleven," Lahar explained.

"But that is not what really happened," Doranbolt guessed. Lahar sadly nodded.

"It was a while ago, so the security on it was easy to get passed. What really happened was much sicker than that. You have heard of the rumors about experiment 666 I am guessing?" Lahar asked.

Doranbolt nodded sadly before saying, "They called it that because it was the devil's experiment. The council had picked a group of promising young wizards and injected them with a serum to increase their to the rumor all the kids died and the records are locked away so deep that no one can find them. This was never proven to be true and is known as mostly urban legend now." It was then that Lahar looked at Doranbolt with tears in his eyes, something that wasn't common from him. "Sir, what is it?" Doranbolt asked concerned but guessing the answer.

"It was real. Levy McGarden was one of the children used in these experiments. I doubt she knows what the experiment was, or what their plan was. She was supposed to be broken of her will and used as nothing but a council killing machine. There were over two dozen kids and most did die, but some didn't. Not even the wildest minds could ever think that a child could survive what they went through, but there were some, less than ten. Levy McGarden had the strongest will of them all, she was regarded as the prime subject. Her power is above that of any other person if she uses to her full extent," Lahar explained to Doranbolt. Doranbolt was floored, he had no idea their leader was so powerful. Levy had always insisted she was just a figurehead, that she didn't have much power, which was obviously a lie now. If Levy had so much power then why was she hiding it?

"Just how powerful is she? Levy always claims to have no power, that she really is just a figurehead," Doranbolt said confused.

"Honestly it doesn't surprise me she said that. Levy could take down this entire building with one word, but that would be letting the council win. Chances are she has locked up her power and hasn't used it in full ever. With her parents murder looming over her head she doesn't want any more guilt and her power would, more than likely, be unstable with how much she has," Lahar explained. "Now onto another issue. The assistant leader, Queen I think her name was, called me. She caught me up to date on important matters, some matter I don't think you know but you should know. It's about Wendy," Lahar told him.

"Is she okay?!" Doranbolt asked worriedly. Doranbolt felt protective of the young girl, like a father would over a daughter.

"Yes, she is fine. Currently she is looking for Natsu Dragneel, who has gone missing. It seems Gajeel Redfox, Mrs. McGarden's boyfriend, and Natsu Dragneel were under Ella's control. While under her control she made the two attack a resistance team. That team happened to be the team of Harmony and Wendy. Both are okay because Levy somehow saved them, and I won't go into what happened to her AFTER she saved them, but Queen suggested we watch Ella. Ella could be a major threat with the whole mind control thing," Lahar explained to Doranbolt. Sudden anger washed over Doranbolt, how could Ella hurt Wendy?!

"I will help you in whatever you need help with. I am glad you have decided to support the resistance. Trust me, Levy will make the council what it needs to be, the justice you want it to be. Plus, she will probably put you in a high position," Doranbolt said before turning to leave.

"Where are you going?" Lahar asked him.

"I have some business to take care of," Doranbolt told him flatly. It was obvious that he was going to go talk to Ella Phantomhive, though they both knew nothing would really change. Ella was a sick twisted person that Lahar had never supported into hiring. Now that he knew the truth about the reason they wanted Ella, he supported her less.

"Just don't do anything too bad," Lahar said with a sigh. _No use in trying to stop him, he would just go anyway,_ Lahar thought. Better that Doranbolt go with Lahar knowing than Doranbolt going behind Lahar's back to talk to her.

"Yes sir," Doranbolt said before leaving. _Now where is that menace,_ Doranbolt thought angrily. Anyone who dared hurt Wendy was an enemy of his. Whether or not they still worked together meant nothing to him. When he joined the resistance Levy promised that no harm would come to Wendy and harm did come to Wendy due to one of his own co-workers. That was unacceptable to Doranbolt. After looking everywhere he finally found Ella in the dining area, watching TV in there. They weren't supposed to do this, he was sure Ella knew this, but then again Ella wasn't much one for rules. Why she ran the mind control area even though they were laws against such things. "Ella," Doranbolt said, his voice shook with anger.

"Oh! Hello there Doranbolt. Care to watch TV with me? Or would your boss get too mad at you?" Ella teased. Ella was constantly trying to get Doranbolt to break the rules knowing his best friend was Lahar.

"You went too far Ella," Doranbolt snapped at her. Ella looked at him confused, sure watching TV was technically against the rules, but Doranbolt had never snapped at her. The two were far from buddies, but they were not enemies. Not that she knew of at least.

"I don't know what you mean? I know watching TV is against the rules but-" before Ella could continue Doranbolt cut her off.

"YOU HURT WENDY!" Doranbolt roared. For a moment Ella was slightly frightened at the sound of his voice. Never before had she heard Doranbolt be so angry or forceful. _Wendy, Wendy, who is he talking about? Oh wait, that little girl I made Natsu and Gajeel beat up,_ Ella said remembering.

"So? It isn't the first girl I have had to beat up for getting in the council's way. Last time I checked she was too young for you and you do not have a daughter, so I really don't see the problem," Ella said simply. She had become bored with the conversation and turned back to whatever show was on the TV. It was then that Doranbolt turned off the TV. "Hey!" Ella said turning her attention back to Doranbolt.

"I am not done with you. You made Wendy's own friends beat her up! How could you? Don't you feel the least bit of guilt?" Doranbolt asked her. Surely the girl wasn't so heartless as to not feel the least bit of remorse for making two friends beat up a younger friend. Ella sat there for a moment, thinking to herself.

"Nope! None!" Ella said happily. This angered Doranbolt even more. "Now, can I go back to watching my show?" she asked holding out her hand for the remote.

"You are a monster! How could you! She is just a child! And to make her own friends hurt her, it is despicable!" Doranbolt said spitting in her face. Ella glared at him as she wiped her face.

"You don't want me as your enemy Doranbolt. Just give me the remote and leave," Ella said her tone now dangerous. In her eyes this conversation was ridiculous. All she did was follow the council's orders, the same council he worked for. If he had such a problem he should just go join the rebellion for all she cared.

"You are a monster," Doranbolt said throwing the remote at Ella.

"Get out," Ella said glaring. When Doranbolt didn't move she yelled, "GET OUT OR I WILL TRACK DOWN THIS WENDY AND MIND CONTROL HER AND HAVE HER KILL HERSELF!" With that Doranbolt left. _He can be a real pain,_ Ella thought to herself as she turned on the TV. Oh well, as long as Doranbolt left her alone she wouldn't need to do anything to him or this so called Wendy, whoever she was. Instead she chose to just watch her show.

Meanwhile, back at Fairy Tail most people were grumbling about Erza's new intense training program. "Quit your complaining! You all said you wanted to help Levy and the resistance take over the council, so I am simply helping," Erza told them. That didn't stop them from complaining. Erza just sighed and shook her head fondly. Even she had to admit she was working them hard, she had to though. If she didn't work them as hard as she could then they could end up being useless to Levy and dying in the battle. Pushing them to their limit was Erza's only choice. It really was for their own good, even if they didn't believe her.

"Where is Levy? Do you know?" Gajeel asked Erza breathless. Even though Gajeel was strong already he was not excused from the training. Only S-Class wizards were excused, but nearly all of them were helping with the training. The only one who wasn't was Gildarts who was still on his way back from a mission.

"I think her and Master were trying to finalize some plans for the battle so Levy could take them to Queen later. Queen has been pressuring her to get some rough cut plans to her since she talked to Lahar," Erza explained to Gajeel. Gajeel nodded, Queen really did push Levy hard. Not that she shouldn't push Levy hard, but sometimes it seemed a little excessive.

"Thanks," Gajeel said and turned to go find Levy when he was stopped by Jet and Droy. _Great, the wonder twins,_ Gajeel thought with a groan. "What do you two want?" Gajeel growled. He really didn't have time for these two, he wanted to see Levy as soon as possible. Whenever he had a long training session the only thing he wanted to do was go back to his apartment with Levy and Lily with Levy curled up on the couch reading a book and Lily helping him with new cooking recipes. Lily had found one the other day he was dying to make for Levy, if these two would just leave him alone.

"What do you want with Levy?" Droy asked accusingly. _Why couldn't these two just get over themselves and accept the fact I am dating Levy, that I am in love with her,_ Gajeel thought irritated.

"What do I want with her? I am her boyfriend after all, so to be with her. Listen, I just went through some rough training with Laxus, so can we just skip to the part where you let me see Levy?" Gajeel asked. He knew they wouldn't let him, but it was worth a shot. Besides, Levy hated it when he fought with them, because for some reason she seemed to actually care for the two idiots.

"No, you are just going to hurt her again!" Jet told him with a cold stare. It was an unspoken rule between the three to never bring up what happened during the Phantom Lord battle, but Jet just broke that rule. Gajeel growled dangerously, that was a sore subject with him. He had sworn to himself to never hurt Levy again and she had already forgiven him for that. If she hadn't then she wouldn't be dating him.

"Yeah! All you do is hurt her! How can she really trust you after what you did to us?" Droy asked him with a smirk. _These two are sounding too much like my inner insecurities. I do NOT like it,_ Gajeel thought.

"At least we haven't hurt her," Jet told him. Now they were both smirking at him, thinking they finally got the upper hand. Before Gajeel could attack them due to his blind rage a voice spoke up from behind Gajeel.

"Gajeel-san isn't like that anymore! Gajeel-san loves Fairy Tail and Levy-san. When Gajeel-san hurt you all Gajeel-san was only following the orders of our previous master," Juvia said in defense of Gajeel. Gajeel turned around and gave a small grateful smile to the water mage. Sometimes he forgot he had an ally among the fairies, someone who understood what happened.

"That doesn't change the past. He can't be trusted!" Jet protested. They were walking on thin ice with Gajeel. Everyone knew Gajeel could easily take on both of them at the same time. There was no contest between the three mages, Gajeel would come out on top every time.

"Stop, all of you. Jet, Droy, I am disappointed in you two. Gajeel has been one of us for a while. Everyone else has forgiven him, including, obviously, Levy. You two need to get over yourselves, Gajeel isn't going anywhere anytime soon," Erza said coming in between the three wizards.

"Just because Gajeel won Levy's heart and not you two doesn't make him a bad person ya know," Cana said while gulping more booze.

"But-" Droy started before Erza cut him off.

"Everyone knows you two only hate Gajeel because he got Levy, not because he hurt you three during the Phantom Lord battle. That was ancient past, get over yourselves. Levy doesn't love you two like you love. If you two don't accept that and accept the fact that Gajeel is now with Levy then you will lose Levy," Erza snapped at them. Both Jet and Droy were speechless, Erza had a point. _If Gajeel does propose to Levy and she does say yes and we continue this, then we are nearly guaranteed to lose what little of Levy that we have left. Maybe it is time to move on,_ Jet thought with a sigh. It was time to make nice with Gajeel before it was too late.

"Fine, we'll be civil, but don't think we agree with Levy's choice or like you Gajeel," Jet said before storming off. Droy didn't seem nearly as convinced to make nice as Jet, but he followed Jet's lead and left.

"It isn't much, but it is a start. I am sorry you have to deal with them Gajeel," Erza said, "no one else thinks badly of you in Fairy Tail, except maybe Natsu, but I feel that is more of a rivalry than anything else. You're family now Gajeel."

"Juvia thinks they are wrong about you Gajeel-san," Juvia told him with a smile.

"Thank you, both of you. Now I really want to find Levy. Running into those two just made me more tired," Gajeel said sounding exhausted. At the moment he didn't care if Lily wasn't ready to go back to the apartment, he would go without the cat if he needed to.

"The last I heard she was in the conference room with master. I would check by there first," Erza told him. Gajeel nodded and went toward where Levy and master normally had their meetings. Lately it seemed like Levy lived in there when she was at the guild. Not to mention Harmony was nearly a member of Fairy Tail with how often she came over- Queen still had her doing errands for her. Gajeel was pretty sure she would join Fairy Tail after the war. After all, she already felt like family to the guild. As Gajeel left to find Levy they all heard the bells signalling that Gildarts was coming back.

"Looks like my old man is finally back, took him long enough," Cana said gulping down some more booze. Erza grinned, training was about to get even more intense for everyone.

"Levy? You around here?" Gajeel called out looking around. Soft sobbing caught his attention as he walked closer to the end of the hallway. When he finally reached the end of the hallway he saw Levy curled up in a ball, which she only does when she is EXTREMELY sad, and her phone next to her. This rang all sort of bells. First, Levy always put away her phone and second, Levy hadn't gone to him, she had actually hid. Something terrible had happened. "What happened?" Gajeel asked squatting down in front of Levy. Levy refused to look at him. "Levy, tell me," Gajeel said to her. After she refused to look at him again he took her face into his hands and wiped her tears himself. Levy's eyes were red and her cheeks had become puffy from crying. What on Earth happened?! "Tell me," he said after.

"I-I got a call," Levy said between sobs, "from Queen." Getting a call from Queen wasn't uncommon for the solid script mage, so what was the big deal? Levy took a deep breath before continuing much calmer, "Do you remember Mrs. Wilson?"

Gajeel slowly nodded before saying, "Yeah, we had Wendy interview her when trying to look for you. She was the one that told Wendy you were the resistance leader if I remember correctly." Why was she asking him this?

"Queen just called. Mrs. Wilson is d-d-dead!" Levy cried bawling again. This time instead of curling up in a ball she flung her arms around Gajeel's neck, sobbing into his chest.

"Shhh, it'll be okay," Gajeel said comforting the blue haired girl. The two stayed like that a little while, Gajeel muttering sweet nothings to the crying girl as she clutched onto his shirt and drenched it in her tears. _Why does it always seem like Levy gets the short end of the stick,_ Gajeel wondered sadly. When Levy started to calm down Gajeel finally asked, "Did Queen say how she died?"

"Yes," Levy said with a nod before her voice turned venomous, "they killed her, the council." This shocked Gajeel. Sure the council was bad, but to go as far as to kill an old lady? He seriously doubted Mrs. Wilson was much of a threat. The only thing she really did was look after Levy anyway, she was like a grandmother to the small girl. _They did it just to make her feel bad,_ Gajeel said with sudden realization. Anger towards the council boiled up into him. In order to get it all out he punched a hole in the wall next to Levy. "Gajeel?" Levy asked concerned.

"Don't worry Levy, we will avenge Mrs. Wilson's death. I swear to you, I will hurt anyone who makes my pixie cry," Gajeel said with venom in his voice. This was now personal, they had hurt HIS girl. No one hurts his girl. As much as Levy hated to be called pixie- it just stated how small she was, even if she was small and feisty- she let it drop because of how sincere Gajeel was.

"We'll both make them pay," Levy said cupping his face and giving him a small smile. Slowly Levy brought her face to his and gave him a light kiss. When they broke away Levy finally says, "This means war."

 _ **Now that we have checked in with Fairy Tail, will Lucy and friends finally be able to find Natsu and the dragons? Will Wendy be reunited with Grandeeney? How will the dragons react to humans around their den? Find out all that and more in Chapter 7: Reunited**_

 ** _Please review! I love hearing your feedback!_**


	7. Chapter 7: Reunited

**Sorry everyone! I went on a vacation to visit some relatives so I couldn't write! Hopefully this update makes up for its lateness! (Also if you like my work you should check out my Wattpad, the user is still eeveegirly)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail... which saddens me**

Chapter 7: Reunited

Sunlight broke into Lucy's room way too early in the morning for the Celestial Spirit mage. Groaning Lucy tried to hid under her covers and get some more sleep. Sleeping on such a hard bed made her backache and it was hard enough to sleep knowing Natsu was out there somewhere without her. No one was really sure if he was even okay! That thought alone was enough to keep her awake all night. The dragons wouldn't hurt him, right? They had saved Cyprus after all, or at least that is what the teen had claimed, who knew if he was telling them the truth. "Lucy-san, we need to get going," Wendy's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Five more minutes," Lucy groaned pulling the covers closer around her. Really, she was just scared of what they would find when they did find Natsu. She didn't know which scared her, finding out he wasn't at the volcano or finding him at the volcano.

"It isn't like you are going to get anymore sleep as is. I doubt you even got any sleep last night. Just get up, the quicker we leave the quicker we can find Natsu and go home to help Levy," Gray told her. Lucy sighed, sadly Gray had a point. Grumbling Lucy got up and got dressed, knowing her friends were right. All fear aside, they needed to find Natsu. Afterward she walked downstairs to see Gray drinking some iced coffee and Wendy eating a bowl of cereal.

"Are we leaving soon?" Lucy asked them. Wendy frowned, Lucy sounded exhausted. _Did she get any sleep,_ Wendy wondered worriedly.

"Yeah, I already paid for the room. It was cheap so don't worry about it. We'll leave as soon as you eat," Gray told her. Lucy groaned, she really didn't want to eat. How could she eat knowing Natsu was out there! "I don't care if you don't want to eat, you need to Lucy," Gray told her firmly. With a sigh of protest Lucy went with just a cup of hot coco.

"Before you protest you are only drinking iced coffee," Lucy pointed to his cup.

"Toche," Gray said as he drank his coffee. The trio was quiet as they all had their breakfast, no one really knowing what to expect today. Cyprus entered in the room, grinning in excitement. He was the only one excited and bursting with energy.

"You guys ready for today?" Cyprus asked excitedly.

"I think you are the only one who is super excited about this Cyprus-san," Wendy mumbled as she put up her cereal bowl. Lucy and Gray both grunted in agreement, neither really wanting to talk. It was too early for Gray to have energy and Lucy would only be happy again once she saw Natsu safe in her arms. _I really do know how Gajeel felt,_ Lucy thought bitterly.

"We'll leave as soon as Lucy finishes her hot coco," Gray told Cyprus as he put up his cup.

"I can be done now," Lucy said getting up. Gray forced her to sit back, despite her protests.

"Finish, you need something in your stomach," Gray told her firmly. Sighing Lucy obeyed and finished her drink. Once she was done she put up her cup and walked back over to the other three who were waiting for her.

"There, happy?' Lucy asked grumpily. It was too early for Gray to be ordering her around. She only got a small nod from Gray and a slight smile. Lucy decided to take that as a yes. "Well, now what?": Lucy asked. Even though she wasn't sure if she was ready to face what she might find she knew they had to leave soon. The sooner the better.

"Now, Lucy, we go to the volcano,:" Cyprus told her grinning from ear to ear. _At least someone is happy about all this,_ Lucy thought.

"Show us the way," Gray told him. Cyprus nodded and motioned for the Fairy Tail trio to follow. He took them to the back of the hotel where there was a small van, perfect for the four of them. Lucy smiled fondly, the van reminded her of when her and Natsu met the Edolas Natsu.

"This is our family car," Cyprus said opening the door for them. The inside was slightly crammed, but it would do. "The journey should only take about three hours or so. I know it is crammed, but it is only three hours. Will you three be okay?" Cyprus asked them.

"Yeah, we'll be fine, we get along well," Lucy told him. Cyprus nodded and got into the front seat, the other three filled the back of the van. Wendy sat between Gray and Lucy. "So it'll only take three hours? You're sure?" Lucy asked making sure.

"Yep! Just three hours till we get there. Trust me, I've been there plenty of times," Cyprus assured Lucy. Lucy just nodded and started to stare out the window.

"Three hours in a car? Good thing Natsu isn't here," Gray said laughing jokingly. The reminder that Natsu wasn't here made Lucy suddenly get very sad.

"Gray-san," Wendy hissed angrily. At first Gray was confused as to why Wendy got so mad, till he saw Lucy pained face. _Oh… Whoops,_ Gray thought as he saw Lucy looking out the window trying not to cry. He could only imagine how she felt.

"I didn't mean-" Gray started but Lucy cut him off.

"It's fine Gray, really. Everything will be fine. We will find him today and then he will come home with me and everything will be fine. I know you didn't mean anything by your comment," Lucy told him with a small sad comment. Even though she knew Gray hadn't meant anything by his comment, it still stung a little. Just the small reminder the Natsu was not in arms reach of her, that he could be anywhere or even dead and she would never know. That was the hardest part of all this, the not knowing, the fact that he could easily be dead and they would have no idea.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to intrude, but who is this Natsu? Is he your boyfriend Lucy? I can guess he is the reason we are going to the dragons, but why would you think he was taken by dragons in the first place? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Cyprus spoke up.

"N-Natsu is not my boyfriend," Lucy said getting flustered at the mention of that. Both Gray and Wendy laughed at how red Lucy was getting.

"No, Natsu-san and Lucy-san are not dating, but they do like each other," Wendy giggled. Lucy was as red as a firetruck which was cracking the other two mages up. "Natsu-san is the Salamander of Fairy Tail, he uses dragon slayer magic. He was raised by the fire dragon Igneel-san. He is rather loud and destroys a lot of stuff, but he is one of our strongest wizards at Fairy Tail," Wendy tried to explain.

"The reason we think Natsu was taken by dragons is a long story though," Gray told Cyprus. _Why should we tell him more about what is going on? We don't know if we can even trust him yet,_ Gray thought to himself. No need to say this out loud though.

"We have three hours stuck in the car together, I think that is more than enough time for you three to explain yourself," Cyprus stated bluntly. When no one was talking, they were actually all avoiding any eye contact with him, Cyprus stopped the car.

"Hey! Why did you stop the car?! We need to get there fast!" Lucy demanded.

"You all need to tell me what is going on now. I need to know what I am getting myself into. I am driving you three all the way to that volano and I am not doing that without knowing why you are getting this Natsu guy, why he is so important, and why you all think dragons, of all things, took him," Cyprus demanded from them. The three Fairy tail mages all looked at one another unsure if they should tell Cyprus the truth.

"Fine, we'll tell you, but you have to be driving when we do. No way are we losing anymore time when we could be finding Natsu," Lucy told him firmly.

"Fair enough," Cyprus said before starting the car again and driving. Lucy took a deep breath, she should probably start.

"Natsu is the man of my dreams, I am in love with him. Sadly, I don't think the feeling is mutual. I have no way of proving if it is or isn't, I just know he was taken. Back where we are from there is a war about to happen between the magic council who is doing horrible things and the resistance that wants change. Natsu got put in the middle of this when one of our best friends went missing. He was hurt badly in a battle and was taken to our guild's infirmary. When I came back from a mission to check on him he was gone, which is impossible since he was knocked out. Which means he was taken," Lucy explained to Cyprus. It was hard to explain everything without breaking down and crying, but she somehow managed. Maybe it was because soon she would be able to hold Natsu in her arms again, after all they were so close. Only three hours between her and where Natsu was probably being held.

"Okay, that all makes sense, except for one thing. Why would you think dragons took him? Sure he was raised by dragons, but why would they take him? That makes no sense. Shouldn't you guys be looking for the council people? It seems more likely that the council would take him rather than dragons," Cyprus stated flatly. Was he seriously driving all the way down to this volcano on some wild and crazy hunch? Lucy looked over at Wendy for her to do the explaining.

"Do you remember how we said dragons raised Natsu-san and taught him dragon slayer magic?" Wendy asked Cyprus. Slowly Cyprus nodded. "Well, me and another dragon slayer, Gajeel-san, know the same magic and were raised by dragons as well. We went into the infirmary to use our sense of smell to track who took him. The smell that booth of us sensed was not human, in fact it was dragon. We have no doubt that Natsu-san was taken by dragons, for we both know the smell of dragons very well. As for the reason why he was taken by dragons, we don't know that yet," Wendy told Cyprus.

"Interesting," Cyprus said to himself.

"So now that you know why we are going, you should tell us why you want to go to the volcano and see the dragons. Last time I check, which was just a little while ago, everyone here is terrified of the dragons but you," Gray said. It was only fair for Cyprus to share his side of the story.

"Well, about a month ago there was a huge storm that hit here. It came out of nowhere and I was lost in the forest because I was out getting firewood for mama. The storm was so bad that if I stayed out in it I would have died. I tried to find shelter, but I couldn't find any and the storm was only getting worse. Finally a giant creature swooped down and puts it wings around me. For the entire length of the storm, which was probably several hours, the creature didn't' move and kept me safe under it's wings. When the storm stopped it flew off, but not before I got a good glimpse of it. From what I could tell it was a red dragon that saved my life. So far, I haven't been able to say thank you and I know I should," Cyprus told the trio of wizards. After a few more moments the four finally reached the volcano. "Well, here we are!" Cyprus announced as he got out of the car, the others following him.

"It's huge!" Wendy said looking up at the towering volcano in front of her. Suddenly she felt even smaller than she normally did.

"How are we going to find Natsu?" Lucy groaned. The volcano was much bigger than they had expected, which meant finding Natsu would be a lot harder than they expected. _Why does it feel like the universe is against us finding Natsu,_ Lucy wondered heart broken.

"Hey, don't give up so easily. If it was easy then it wouldn't really be Natsu's style, now would it? Come on, we have a volcano to search," Gray said trying to cheer the two girls up. _Gray's right, we can't give up yet! We have to find Natsu and bring him back! Not only for the guild sake, but for Levy's rebellion's as well,_ Lucy thought determinedly as she nodded in agreeance.

"I almost wish I would have brought Carla along, it would have been easier to look at least," Wendy muttered sadly as she began to search. _At least I know she is safe this way,_ Wendy thought sadly.

Three hours after their search began Lucy found what looked to be a cave. Sure, the others had found smaller caves, but those had been empty inside. This one looked to be slightly bigger. Quickly Lucy opened up the maps Levy had given her, hadn't she said Queen had marked where the cave probably was that they were looking for? Looking over the maps it seemed that the cave in front of her was the cave Queen had predicted that the dragons would be holding Natsu in. _FINALLY,_ Lucy thought barely able to contain her excitement. Everything at lead up to this moment.

"Guys! I found the cave Queen was talking about!" Lucy yelled to the others. After a few moments the others came.

"Really? Finally I can tell the thank you!" Cyprus said excitedly.

"And I can punch Natsu for being such a pain," Gray said with a smirk. He wouldn't admit it, but he really missed having Natsu being around. Yes, Natsu was a pain, but he was their pain and it didn't feel the same without him.

"Let's go in and get Natsu-sama before they notice we are here. I would rather not fight dragons, even if I could," Wendy commented as she started before the cave. Before Wendy could even set foot in the cave her fear was realized. From the shadows emerged none other than the shadow dragon Skiadrum.

"Who dares try to enter the Dragon's Nest?!" hissed Skiadrum. Wendy paled and tried to back away, only to find she would fall off if she backed away. "No one enters the Dragon's Nest on my watch!" Skiadrum roared before swinging his tail in an attempt to throw Wendy off the edge.

"Oh no you don't! Open gate of the twins, Gemini," Lucy called out as she summoned forth Gemini. The spirit emerged before Lucy, ready to help. "Grab Wendy!" Lucy commanded. The two nodded and grabbed the sky dragon mage. "Help Wendy fight that dragon. Wendy, you can use those two like you use Carla," Lucy told Wendy.

"Right!" Wendy said nodding before turning her attention to the dragon in front of her. Skiadrum did not look happy that Wendy had managed to survive. He snarled and prepared for another attack. "Sky Dragon Roar!" Wendy said before hitting the shocked shadow dragon. _How did the Dragon Slayers find us,_ Skiadrum wondered as he snarled. Igneel was going to get an earful about picking a better hiding spot next time when he was done with these pests.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray said attacking the dragon. _He can't attack both of us,_ Gray thought as he attacked again.

"Sky Dragon Roar!" Wendy said attacking the dragon as well. She had caught onto what Gray had planned. Maybe, just maybe, they could take out the dragon. Before Skiadrum could attack Wendy or Gray another dragon came from within the Dragon's Nest.

"That's enough Skiadrum. You wouldn't want to hurt Natsu's friends, now would you?" the dragon asked. Wendy's eyes went wide as she smelled the air. _That voice, this smell, could it be?_ Wendy wondered amazed.

"Gemini, put me down in front of the cave," Wendy ordered them. The two nodded as they set Wendy down. They floated back over to Lucy.

"You guys can go," Lucy told them still dazed from the situation. The way the new dragon said that it made Natsu sound like some sort of honored guest rather than a prisoner. What exactly was going on here?

"Who are you guys?" Gray finally asked the two dragons.

"I am the shadow dragon Skiadrum," the dragon Gray and Wendy were fighting stated proudly.

"Skiadrum, Rouge's dragon?" Wendy asked shocked. Though it was hard to tell who was more shocked, Wendy that Rouge's dragon was actually alive, or Skiadrum that the young dragon slayer he had been fighting knew his Rouge.

"How do you know Rouge?' Skiadrum asked her.

"He is a friend of ours," Gray told the shadow dragon. Before more could be said on the matter the dragon who had stopped Skiadrum from attacking stepped out into the light so they all could see them. Wendy's eyes began to water as she gasped. There was no doubt about it. _The blue eyes, the white scales, the voice, even the smell. It HAS to be! It's Grandeeney!_ Wendy thought excitedly. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that she would actually see Grandeeney again. _Just when I had given up,_ Wendy thought as tears streamed down.

"Wendy!" Lucy said worriedly going over to her comrade. Lucy hugged the smaller girl, unsure what exactly was going on.

"Could it be?" Wendy asked through the tears. She wanted to believe it as Grandeeney, but she couldn't bring herself to really believe it till she was sure. Till she heard Grandeeney say it was truly her.

"Yes little one, it is me, Grandeeney," Grandeeney finally said with a smile. Wendy ran over to the sky dragon and hugged her tightly, crying into the dragon's scales.

"I thought I lost you!" Wendy sobbed. Grandeeney wrapped one wings around the small girl.

"Shhhh, it is all okay now. I am guessing by the guild mark you all are here for Natsu," Grandeeney said. The trio of wizards nodded.

"Oh really? These three I understand coming, but what about this one?" Skiadrum asked pointing out Cyprus.

"He is a friend of ours. He says a dragon rescued him a little while back," Gray explained to the dragons. The two dragons nodded.

"Sounds like something Igneel would do. Come, I will take you four to Natsu and Igneel. From there the two can decide what they want to do with you all," Grandeeney said picking up Wendy and putting her on her back.

"Do with us?" Lucy asked confused. Why would they decide what to do with them? Why would Natsu have anything to do with dragons decisions anyway.

"Yes, those two will decide whether or not you guys are worthy of entering in the Dragon's Nest. They are on the top of the volcano, I will take you there. It is a bit of a hike, but Igneel gets mad if we fly short distances. It causes unneeded stress to the locals. Skaidrum, continue to guard, we will be back later," Grandeeney said before starting to walk. Cyprus, Gray, and Lucy were too stunned by the entire thing to move. "Well come on, before Skiadrum attacks again. That got them moving, quickly the three followed Grandeeney and Wendy to the top of the volcano.

 _ **Will the Fairy Tail trio finally figure out what is going on? Will Lucy finally be able to see and save Natsu? Does Natsu even really need saved in the first place? Find out all that and more in Chapter 8: The Dragon Prince**_

 _ **Please review! Reviews make me extremely happy!**_


	8. Chapter 8: The Dragon Prince

**Now that I am back I really don't have anything better to do other than write and watch anime... So here is the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy Tail... which saddens me**

Chapter 8: The Dragon Prince

"How much longer, she asks," Horologium said for the talking blonde mage inside of him. About an hour into hiking up the side of the mountain Lucy had called on Horologium because she just couldn't take walking anymore.

"We are almost there. In fact, I bet you could walk the rest of the way," Grandeeney teased Lucy with a smirk. Grandeeney had let Wendy ride the entire time on her back, but refused to let anyone else on her back because she didn't trust other humans on her back.

"You know, I could walk too Grandeeney," Wendy told the dragon. It wasn't really fair that the others had to walk, but she could ride on the back of a dragon.

"You could, I have no doubt of that, but I won't let you," Grandeeney told her sweetly. Wendy sighed, there was no use fighting the dragon. "Besides, it has only been a little over three hours," Grandeeney said cheerily.

"Unlike you dragons, to humans that is a long time!" Gray complained. The fact that both Wendy and Lucy had ways to keep from walking was unfair.

"Gray, don't be ungrateful to them," Cyprus hissed at the ice mage. Gray glared at Cyprus, suddenly wishing they hadn't brought the little punk along. _Natsu is REEEEEEEALLY going to get when I see him,_ Gray growled in his mind as he continued to walk. A little while later they arrived at the top of the volcano.

"Here we are," Grandeeney told them.

"Well, I am going to go," Horologium told them before disappearing. Lucy fell on the ground on her butt, which made Gray laugh.

"Where is Natsu-san?" Wendy asked Grandeeney looked around the top of the volcano. The top was a lot larger than they had expected.

"Lucy? Gray? Wendy?" they heard someone say making them all turn to the voice. In front of them was Natsu, covered in soot, staring at them in amazement. Lucy covered her mouth as tears ran down her cheeks.

"He is right there young one," Grandeeney said with a smirk. Wendy rolled her eyes, that was kind obvious now.

"N-Natsu, is that really you," Lucy asked, tears streaming down her face. _He isn't dead, Natsu isn't dead,_ Lucy repeated over and over in her head. Natsu's face broke out into his signature grin as he ran up and hugged Lucy. Lucy clung onto him crying. _If this is a dream I don't ever want to wake up,_ Lucy thought to herself as she held onto Natsu.

As they separated Natsu finally asked, "Not that I don't love seeing you all, but why exactly are you here? How did you even find here?"

"Shouldn't we be asking you why YOU are here?" Gray asked Natsu.

"I guess that would be a fair question to ask," Natsu said scratching the back of his head. He wasn't exactly sure if he was allowed to tell them, or if there was some sort of limit to how many people he could tell. If there was a limit he would just tell Lucy, but he had to make sure of the rules before he just told everyone.

"It is okay son, you can tell these people. I am guessing this is your human ma-" Igneel started but Natsu cut him off.

"This is Lucy, Gray, and Wendy," Natsu told Igneel giving him a 'don't you embarrass me' look. Igneel nodded in approval of his son's friends and mate.

"I have heard of Wendy because she is Grandeeney's human," Igneel stated smiling at the small dragon slayer. Then Igneel noticed that there were actually four humans there, not just three. "Who is the fourth human?" Igneel asked nodding toward Cyprus. Natsu shrugged, he had never seen the skinny brown haired boy before.

"That is Cyprus, he brought us to the volcano. He said one of you saved him about a month ago during a storm," Gray informed the two.

"Y-yes, I believe it was you in fact," Cyprus told Igneel. "Th-thank you," he said before bowing rather clumsily.

"Ah yes, I remember that. You really didn't need to thank me" Igneel told him with a smile.

"So much for not meddling in human affairs," Grandeeney mumbled under her breath. Wendy giggled slightly, luckily no one heard the two.

"But you are welcome. You should go though. Weisslogia will take you down," Igneel told Cyprus. Cyprus nodded and followed the other dragon down the volcano. "I trust your friends, but you do not know Cyprus, so it is best he doesn't know our plans," Igneel explained to Natsu once Cyprus was out of hearing range.

"Plans? Is that why you are here Natsu? You are part of some sort of plan?" Gray asked confused. If this plan was so important that Cyprus had to leave something big must be going on, possibly bigger than Levy's rebellion. Natsu looked behind him at Igneel, who nodded his head.

"Well, it looks like I can tell you guys," Natsu said turning back to face his friends. "Turns out the dragons normally have a human servem as their dragon prince. As their dragon prince I can help them make important decisions for the clan, including helping Levy with her rebellion," Natsu told his friends.

"So, if you become the prince, you can help Levy-san with the rebellion?" Wendy spoke up. _That means I could be with Grandeeney even more! If Levy is the leader of the council the dragons would have nothing to fear!_ Wendy thought excitedly.

"Exactly," Natsu said with a grin. "It was pretty easy to convince them to follow me as soon as I become their prince. After all, having Levy as head of the council would mean no more hiding for them. Many of them could see their humans again!" Natsu explained happily. Everything was falling in place.

"With dragons on her side Levy is bound to win!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly. She couldn't wait to tell Levy the good news!

"Hold up, you keep saying when you become their prince, do you mean you aren't their prince yet?" Gray asked confused.

Natsu scratched the back of his head before saying, "Actually no, I still have a month of training so I can be strong enough to become their prince. If I am not strong enough I will die during the coronation." Lucy suddenly felt her blood run cold. _I just got Natsu back! I can't have him actually die on me!_ Lucy thought to herself, biting her lip.

"So a month of training? I don't think Levy will actually start her rebellion till around that time anyway. Erza is training the entire guild for the battle," Lucy told Natsu. Natsu flinched feeling sorry for his fellow guild mates.

"I would hate to be in their shoes. I guess you guys are going to go back so you can tell Levy about the plan?" Natsu said a little sadly. He didn't want them to go, especially not Lucy, but he supposed they didn't really have much of a choice.

"No way am I going to leave you after I went all this way to find you!" Lucy stated stubbornly.

"Igneel, if you don't mind, I could train these kids some more. At least help them with training. I have some spells for Wendy to learn, not only that but I am sure Gray and Lucy would benefit from dragon sparring," Grandeeney told Igneel.

"I suppose that wouldn't be bad. After all, if Lucy insists on staying then she might as well train while here," Igneel said with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Then it is settled, you three will be guests of the Dragon's Nest for the next month while you all train," Grandeeney said with a smile. Wendy beamed at the thought of spending a whole month learning from her adopted mom, Gray and Lucy were also excited to strengthen their powers by fighting dragons rather than humans.

"Your training starts tomorrow, for now Grandeeney will take you to your rooms. Natsu and I have to continue to train," Igneel said before attacking Natsu. With that the two began their training again.

"Follow me. You don't want to be caught in the middle of their training sessions. Don't worry though, we will always training at the bottom of the volcano, it is easier," Grandeeney told the trio of fairies as they left the top of the volcano. _As long as Natsu becomes strong enough, that is all that matters,_ Lucy thought to herself as they went to their rooms.

-Time Skip-

A month later the group was again at the top of the volcano. All training was done and it was about time they headed home, but first Natsu had to officially become the dragon prince.

"Are you sure you are ready for this?" Lucy asked Natsu worriedly. She couldn't lose him.

Natsu nodded before grinning and saying, "I will be fine Luce. The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can go back and tell Levy the door news, right?" Sighing Lucy nodded, she knew he was right. Really, she should have more faith in Natsu. He wouldn't throw away his life, right? "I do want you to watch me become the dragon prince," Natsu said cupping her face, "so keep your eyes on me." Lucy blushed but nodded, who else would she look at anyway.

"Don't worry, I won't be able to take my eyes off of you," Lucy told him with a light blush on her face. Natsu grinned before walking up to the edge of the volcano, Igneel stood on the other side of the volcano.

"Are you ready for this son?" Igneel asked Natsu. Natsu nodded determinedly. Sighing Igneel started in on the usual speech, "Dragons and humans alike, we are gathered here because we have chosen a human to be our dragon prince. Should he be found worthy, he will an important part of the clan, as well as having some of the most power dragon slayer moves." At the sound of many power moves Natsu grinned. _He probably already knows most of them,_ Lucy thought fondly. "Now, many humans have died during the coronation, so don't get your hopes up, but hopefully he serves. Natsu, good luck. May the coronation begin," Igneel finally said. Natsu smirked as he jumped straight INTO the volcano.

"NATSU!" Lucy yelled. Both Wendy and Gray had to hold her back from jumping into the volcano herself. Her response to it made Igneel smile, _the feelings must be mutual between the two._

"Well, I guess we see why so many people have died during this," Gray said morbidly.

"Yes, but Natsu-san is strong. Fire magic doesn't hurt him, so I doubt lava can!" Wendy said trying to cheer up Lucy.

"At least we know why he was training so hard," Gray mumbled, still holding back a distressed Lucy.

"I can't lose him!" Lucy said as she started to cry.

"Now human child, have more faith in Natsu. He has been training very hard for this, even harder than you three have been training. I don't think I have seen anyone training so hard for this, which is saying something because we have had several princes. All he has to do is get to the other side of the volcano, this will all be other soon," Grandeeney told Lucy comfortingly. Wendy gave Grandeeney a grateful smile as Lucy began to calm.

 _Please Natsu, be okay,_ Lucy thought helplessly. Just as Lucy thought that Natsu emerged at the other side of the volcano. As he emerged her shot a huge Fire Dragon Roar into the sky. Lava dripped off his body, but nothing on him was harmed. It was truly an amazing sight to see.

"Dragons and humans, the new dragon prince, Prince Natsu!" Igneel roared out over the dragons. All of the dragon, including Wendy, let out a mighty roar above them. Lucy and Gray smiled as they say all the dragons congratulating their new prince.

"I can't waste another second, we need to head back to Fairy Tail," Natsu said looking at his fellow guildmates. The trio nodded in agreement with the newly crowned prince. _If I marry Natsu, will that make me a princess,_ Lucy wondered for a moment before shaking off the thought. She didn't have the time to think of that now!

"Skiadrum will be able to take you four there the quickest. After you make battle plans with this Levy person send him back, that way we will know what is going on as well," Igneel told Natsu.

"Got it," Natsu said before getting onto Skiadrum. "Ready guys?' he asked his friends.

"More than," Lucy said before letting Natsu help her up. Gray helped Wendy onto the dragon before getting onto the dragon himself.

"To Fairy Tail!" Natsu said as Skiadrum lifted up into the sky. The four waved down at the dragons as they left.

"Oh yeah, before I forget," Gray said before punching Natsu, "that was for making us come find you."

"Not fair!I didn't ask to be abducted and made a prince!" Natsu shot back before the two got into another fight. The two girls laughed at the boys antics, it was nice having Natsu back. _At least we know some things will never change,_ Lucy thought happily.

 **Only 2 chapter and an epilog left!**

 _ **Natsu and friends are finally headed back to Fairy Tail! Will they make it in time to help? Will Natsu and Lucy finally admit their feelings for each other? Find out all that and more in Chapter 9: Final Plans**_

 _ **As always, please review! It makes me happy!**_


	9. Chapter 9: Final Plans

**Here is the newest chapter! Please check out my journal so you can have input as to what the next story will be!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail... which saddens me**

Chapter 9: Final Plans

"Are we close yet?" Lucy asked as she laid her head in Natsu's lap. She was exhausted from having to worry so much about Natsu and all she wanted was one of Mira's cooked meals.

"Quit your complaining human," Skiadrum grumbled as he flew. Natsu absent mindedly ran his fingers through her hair.

"Think we will make it in time?" Wendy asked a little worriedly. It had been a whole month since the four of them had been at Fairy Tail, what if Levy already started the rebellion?

"I wouldn't worry too much. Levy would want to have a strict battle plan AND make sure everyone was prepared and ready for battle," Gray reminded her. Lucy nodded sleepily in agreement. Natsu stroking her hair was making her want to just curl up and pass out even more. "Now now Lucy, you can't be falling asleep now. We need to be awake when we address the guild," Gray reminded Lucy. Lucy groaned, sleep sounded better than addressing the guild. "Natsu, that means you will probably have to stop stroking her hair," Gray pointed out. Natsu's face turned the color of his hair when he realized what he had been doing.

"R-right," Natsu stuttered as he stopped. Lucy let out a small groan of announce and shot a glare to Gray, she was enjoying that dang it! Gray just smirked and chuckled at Lucy's annoyed expression. With a huff Lucy decided it was best to just sit up anyway.

"Lucy-san, I think I see the guild!" Wendy told Lucy pointing down to their guild building. Everyone looked over the dragon to where she was pointing, seeing that Wendy was indeed right.

"Finally! I can't wait to have one of Mira's meals!" Lucy said grinning.

"Skiadrum, how are you going to avoid being seen? If the council got word that you were here it would spell trouble for everyone," Natsu asked the dragon.

Skiadrum smirked before saying, "Oh, don't you worry my new prince. There is a reason why Igneel sent me to take you back rather than him himself. You see, since I am a shadow dragon, so I can become invisible to the people from below. Then, when we land, I will just become a shadow."

"I wish we could reunite you with Rouge, but I am afraid that will have to wait till after the war," Natsu told him sorrowfully.

"Do not worry, I am sure once your young friend becomes the leader of the council then I will have more than enough time with him. The two of us have a lot of catching up to do I think," Skiadrum said fondly. It was the first time any of them had heard Skiadrum actually speak fondly about something. It made Lucy smile, _he must really care for Rouge._ "Brace yourselves, we're landing," Skiadrum told them. All of them held onto the dragon tightly as they landed in the back of Fairy

Tail.

"Finally! We're home!" Lucy said as Natsu helped her off the dragon. Gray helped Wendy down and they all smiled as they looked at their guildhall.

"Come out and tell me when the human girl wants to talk to me," Skiadrum told Natsu as he became a shadow on the ground. Natsu nodded as he entered Fairy Tail with his friends behind him.

"I'm back!" Natsu yelled out into the guildhall. Everyone looked toward Natsu surprised to see him return. Levy came running up to the group, hugging them all.

"We were all so worried about you! We weren't sure what happened!" Levy told them happy to see them return.

"Sorry to worry you all, it took a lot longer than we thought it would," Lucy told her with a smile. Juvia came running up, tackling Gray down to the ground as she cried.

"Juvia thought Gray-sama had died or something!" Juvia told him as she held onto him closely. Gray chuckled slightly as he tried to pry the girl off him, he wouldn't admit it, but he had missed Juvia very much.

"I'm fine, really Juvia," Gray told her once she had finally let him back onto his feet.

"I made this for Gray-sama," Juvia said holding up another pillow of herself.

"I don't want it!" Gray said as he began to run away from the girl. The two ran around the guild as the others laughed. Wendy then found Carla and decided she had a lot to tell her cat, so she excused herself to go catch up with Carla.

"We actually need to talk to you Levy," Lucy told her.

"I figured you would, you two follow me. I will have Erza and the Master meet us in the conference room," Levy told the two as she lead them into the conference room. Erza and the Master were already in there waiting for them. Erza smiled at the two as they entered.

"It's great to have you two back," Erza told them with a smile. The Master nodded in agreement with the S-Class mage. "Looks like it is time to make final battle plans," she stated.

"It is, we need to be attacking soon. Our window of opportunity is closing rapidly," Levy told the small group.

"I believe I can help our odds greatly. You see, I was taken by dragons, but for a specific purpose. The dragons have crowned me as their human dragon prince. This means that I can command a small number of dragons to aid in the battle," Natsu told Levy. Levy beamed at Natsu's suggestion, but then her expression turned troubled.

"How soon can the dragons be available for battle?" Levy asked worriedly. She knew they couldn't wait too much longer, Queen had been getting on her for waiting so long as it is. Levy just couldn't bring herself to launch the attack with Natsu and the others though, it just wouldn't feel right.

"A few days, Skiadrum is outside waiting for your orders as we speak," Natsu told them. The three looked at Natsu in amazement.

"There is a dragon outside?!" Erza asked floored. Erza's reaction made Natsu smirk, it took a lot to get Erza shocked.

"If the council sees it, we will have trouble," Levy said becoming even more troubled.

"Skiadrum is a shadow dragon, so right now he is just a normal shadow on the ground. The council will not find out he is here. The only question that remains is, do you want the dragons help?" Natsu asked Levy. Levy thought about it for a moment, did she really want their help? Everyone had put so much effort into training, some for years, and if they had the dragons everything would just be so much easier.

"Yes, I do, but only as a last resort. Can they be on standby?" Levy asked Natsu.

"Yes they can, they are willing to do whatever to help. If you want them just as a last resort method, they can do that. Now, when are we going to start the battle?" Natsu asked her.

"3 days time should be good. Queen will finally be off my butt about it at least, plus that should give the dragons enough time to prepare. Erza can put the rest of the guild members through intense training as well. There is only one last thing to figure out, who is going ot be a part of the elite team that takes down the big shots of the council? You can leave the leader to me and Gajeel, but the others," Levy asked Erza and the master.

"I think me, Mira, Gildarts, Laxus, Natsu, and Gray should be the elite team. I don't believe you should be a part of the battle master. If something were to happen to you, where would the guild be?" Erza stated.

"I have to agree with Erza on her choice of people and you not being a part of it master," Levy said backing Erza up.

"I guess you all are right, I am getting up there in age. I will stay back here and help tend to the wounded. I am sure Porlyusica would help me as well," Makarov stated, a little disappointed to not be part of the action.

"Wait, there is one problem, I don't want to be part of the elite team," Natsu said flatly.

"What? Why not?" Erza said truly surprised. Normally Natsu wanted to be right where the action was, well, where the most action would be. Plus, they could truly use him in the elite team.

"Simple, I have a score to settle with a certain Ella Phantomhive," Natsu said putting on his signature grin.

"Fine with me, just don't get yourself taken over again. I think Lu-chan would kill me if I let that happen," Levy told him. "Well, with that settled, I will let Lahar, Queen, and Skiadrum know of our plans. Erza, you should put together a program to make sure everyone is ready for the battle in three days. Natsu, you should go mingle and enjoy coming home," Levy told them before leaving.

"Good to have you back my boy," Makarov told Natsu smiling before he left as well. Erza and Natsu followed him out to the guildhall where everyone was celebrating their return.

"Ey, Natsu, come over here," called Gajeel, who was currently at the bar. Natsu walked over to the black haired dragon slayer.

"Yeah?" Natsu said, curious as to why Gajeel called him over.

"Have you told the bunny girl how you feel yet?" Gajeel asked him, raising an eyebrow. Natsu's face lit up with a slight blush at the mention of his feelings for Lucy. He could only shake his head, not wanting to become a stuttering mess in front of Gajeel. "You should tell her after the fight," Gajeel told Natsu.

"You make it sound so easy," Natsu said with a sigh. How could he tell her? What if she turned him down? That scared him more than anything else.

"I know it isn't easy, it was hard for me to tell Levy how I felt," Gajeel told Natsu.

"She told you first," Natsu pointed out. Gajeel rolled his eyes as he took a swig of his drink.

"Listen, you'll be sorry if you don't tell her soon. Don't wait too long or she may just be gone," Gajeel stated flatly.

"Yeah, I know," Natsu said with a sigh as he watched Lucy laugh at Gray and Juvia's antics as she talked to Wendy. _I can't let her be taken by another,_ Natsu thought to himself. After the fight, he would tell her after the fight.

As Natsu was torturing himself about finally confessing to Lucy, Levy was making everything final. She walked out to the back where the shadow dragon was hiding. "Hello? Skiadrum?" she called out to the seemingly empty backyard.

"You must be Levy," came a booming voice from below. The young solid script mage jumped as she looked around to see where the voice was coming from. "I am a shadow right now, so you won't see me. Just tell me what the plans are so I can head back and tell Igneel," Skiadrum stated impatiently.

"R-right," Levy said taking a deep breath to calm herself. "The plan is to attack in 3 days, but I would like to use the dragons as a last resort. I don't want to just use you because I feel that would be putting everyone else's hard work to waste. I want you all to wait in a field nearby till we give you some sort of signal to come," Levy told the shadow dragon.

"Fine, I will tell Igneel. Tell Prince Natsu that we will see him then," Skiadrum told Levy before disappearing without a trace. _At least the council won't catch him,_ Levy thought to herself. Hopefully Natsu and her could work out an agreement as to what the dragons could do within the new council's laws. Afterward she took out her phone and called Lahar's number.

"Levy?" Lahar said sounded a little surprised. Levy hardly called anyone, normally she left that all to Queen.

"Yes, it is me. We have finally decided when we will be attacking the council and I thought you might want to time to prepare for it," Levy told him.

"Oh really? When is it?" Lahar asked curiously. He beckoned Doranbolt to come over to him.

"3 days time, is that okay with you?" Levy asked. Lahar and Doranbolt exchanged surprised looks. Queen said Levy kept putting off the battle, but now she had made it so soon. One day the two planned to ask her why.

"Yes, that is fine. We will see you then," Lahar said before hanging up. Taking a deep breath Levy decided it was time to finally call Queen. No way she could tell Queen that she was the last one Levy called, but she did need to eventually call Queen.

"Levy? This is a surprise, something happen?" Queen asked Levy when she called.

"Yes, I have decided when the battle is. Have the troops be prepped and prepared in 3 days time, can you do that?" Levy asked Queen.

"Yes, we will be ready," Queen said then abruptly hung up the phone. Levy sighed, _as abrupt as ever._ She walked into the guild hall to see everyone being told by Erza about the intense final training. Levy couldn't help but giggle as everyone groaned by Erza's plans. Suddenly she felt arms around her and laughter as she squeaked.

"You are too cute," came a voice she knew all too well from behind her.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready Gajeel?" Levy asked leaning back into his arms. He kissed her cheek and held her close.

"Why would I want to when I can have you in my arms?" Gajeel asked playfully before his voice turned serious, "after the war, I will still have you right? You won't find another man, right?" Levy turned to face him and cupped his face with a gentle smile.

"Gajeel, I love you, nothing will change that. Not me becoming head of the council or me loosing this battle. I will always love you," Levy said before gently kissing him on the lips. Gajeel held her closer to him, not wanting to let her go.

"Forever and always," Gajeel said holding her closely and stroking her hair. _Don't die on me now shorty,_ Gajeel thought as he held her close, _I can't live without you now, forever and always._

 **Only 1 more chapter and an epilog to go!**

 _ **Final plans have finally be put in place, but how will the battle be fought? Can they truly win? Will Natsu finally be able to confess his love to Lucy? Find out all this and more in Chapter 10: The Battle**_

 _ **Please review! It makes me so happy to hear from you all! Don't forget to check out my journal as well!**_


	10. Chapter 10: The Battle

**At long last, the battle scene! I really hope this is good... I tried hard! Battle scenes aren't my thing, but I think this turned out well. This is the longest chapter yet!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail... which saddens me**

Chapter 10: The Battle

After 3 days everyone was getting ready for the battle. Gajeel was waiting outside of Levy bedroom door as she changed. After the whole Levy faking her death because she was nearly killed Gajeel has served as her personal bodyguard.

"Levy, are you sure about this?" Gajeel asked slightly worriedly. The past couple nights Gajeel had had nothing but nightmares of Levy dying during the battle. After getting a taste of what it was like thinking Levy was dead, he doubted he could live without Levy.

"Gajeel, I will be fine, really. Don't worry about me, I will have you with me at all times, remember? We have to take down Doma together, it is the only way," Levy said from the other side of the door. Gajeel sighed, he supposed he couldn't really expect her not to do this on his account. From the sounds of it, she had been planning this for YEARS.

"Remember what I told you a while ago? You are small, so don't leave my side. That goes for today too, don't you dare leave my side," Gajeel told her firmly. Levy opened the door, she had on a skin tight black suit- which under different circumstances would make Gajeel go crazy. Levy hugged Gajeel and held him closely.

"Gajeel, I love you, I will stay by you. Are you ready? Everyone is waiting for us at Fairy Tail," Levy told Gajeel, taking his hand in hers. Gajeel looked down at their hands, Levy's hand was so small in comparison to his own, and sighed.

"Yeah, I guess it is now or never," Gajeel said holding Levy hand tightly. The two walked to Fairy Tail where everyone else was all ready for the battle, both Fairy Tail members and resistance members alike were in the guildhall.

"Is everyone ready?" Levy asked the guildhall full of people. There was a roar that broke out among the crowd. Gajeel felt Levy hand grip his even harder, when Gajeel looked at his girlfriend he noticed she was actually nervous.

"Why are you so nervous?" he whispered to her confused. Hadn't this been what she was waiting for, what she had always wanted?

"Not everyone in this room is going to make it back alive. Not only that, but if we fail, we may never have another chance like this again. What we do today will change the world, for the good or the bad. I guess it just frightens me a little to know that," Levy told Gajeel nervously.

"Don't think negatively, think positively. Everyone has trained really hard, not only that, but you have dragons on standby as well. We aren't going to lose, there is no way, we are going to win," Gajeel told her confidently. Levy smiled up at him hoping what he said was true.

"Everyone know the plans correct? The elite team will follow me and Gajeel to take out the council members. Try your best not to kill anyone, only knock them out or make sure they cannot move. If you have to kill, I understand, but try not to. Gajeel and I will take out Doma. If you see any dragons, don't freak, they are on our side. Lahar's team will be there too, so don't attack any council members wearing red. Most importantly, try to come home in one piece," Levy told everyone. The group nodded, understanding what their leader was telling them. "Now then, everyone, to the council building!" she cried out. A roar let out amongst the recruits before they started to head toward the council building. Before they left Levy went over to Wendy. "You understand why I am having you stay back with the master, correct?' Levy asked Wendy.

"Yes, my powers are best used for healing everyone when they get back rather than fighting. Just, promise me you will come back alive Levy-san, I don't think I could handle the sadness of you dying again," Wendy told Levy, her voice shaking slightly. Levy held Wendy close and kissed the top of her head.

"I promise I will come back alive, you just focus on keeping your power stored up so you can use it when we come back. Watch over master for me while we are gone, okay?" Levy told her with a small smile. As much as she hated to leave Wendy behind, she knew she couldn't risk Wendy being hurt.

"I will," Wendy said nodded determinedly. As Levy left with Gajeel and the others both Wendy and the master did the famous Fairy Tail salute. With tears in her eyes, Levy left to go change the world.

They arrived at the council building about an hour later. Everyone was ready for some action. Erza, Laxus, Mira, Gildarts, Natsu, and Gray all stood in the front with Gajeel and Levy.

"Okay, so you all know what to do right? You all, but Natsu, need to get to the top of the building, that is where the other council members will be. Natsu, you need to take out Ella very quickly, before she can take anyone over. We can't afford to lose anyone. Gajeel and I will handle Doma, so don't worry about us. Ready?" Levy asked. They all nodded and Levy opened the doors to the council building where several guards were there. Probably complaining about having a boring day, though that was about to change.

"It's Levy McGarden!" one yelled before getting an Iron Dragon club to the face. Others started to shoot there magic guns at them, but the elite team made a circle around Levy so she wouldn't be hurt. Soon the others rushed in and started to clash with the guards.

"Calling for back up! Calling for back up! It is a resistance ambush like we have never seen before!" one guard said into his communication lacrima. _If we get that lacrima it will allow us to hear their plans,_ Levy thought with a smirk.

"Erza! Can you get that guards lacrima and ID pass? We will need both," Levy yelled at Erza. Even though the circle was pretty tight around Levy, the fighting around them was loud.

"Understood!" Erza said before requipping her Flight Armor on. Using the armors immense speed she was able to quickly get both the guards ID card and the lacrima.

"Good, give me the lacrima and you keep the ID card. If we run into any doors you will have to use it," Levy explained to Erza. Erza nodded and handed Levy the lacrima. Levy brought the lacrima up to her ear to listen in on the enemy's plans.

"Ella, you go to the fourth floor so you can stop them before they get to the council members above you," someone told Ella.

"Understood," Ella said.

"Ella will be at the fourth floor, which is the floor below where all the council members will be. Natsu, you need to distract Ella long enough that we all can get through and then take her out as quickly as possible," Levy told Natsu.

"I'm all fired up now," Natsu said with a grin, "let's get there quickly!"

"There is a stairwell to our right, that is probably the quickest way to get the fourth floor without being detected. There may be a few guards, but I am sure you all can manage," Levy said to them. The group walked over to the stairwell and Erza opened the door with the ID. As the group went up the stairs they ran into some guards. Laxus quickly took them out without any trouble. "Good job Laxus," Levy said with a smile. _So far so good,_ Levy thought.

"So, once we get up there, are you sure you and Gajeel will be able to handle Doma on your own?" Gildarts asked Levy concerned. Gildarts had never really thought of Levy as being strong. Sure, she pulled most of the weight in Team Shadowgear, but he never saw her as strong.

"Don't worry about my little pixie, she can handle herself," Gajeel told Gildarts with a smirk. Levy frowned at the use of the horrid nickname, but decided now would be a bad time to bring that up.

"If you are so sure," Gildarts said, but he did not sound like he believed him at all.

"Gildarts, you forget, I haven't used even a quarter of my power around the guild. None of you have any idea about my true strength. I may need it when facing Doma and I will use it if I need to," Levy assured Gildarts. She had no intentions of dying today. "Natsu, are you ready to get your payback?" Levy asked him grinning.

"Oh yeah, I am fired up!" Natsu told her excitedly. He couldn't wait to make Ella pay for what she had done to him!

"Make her pay for the both of us," Gajeel told Natsu. As much as Gajeel wanted to beat Ella up himself, he wanted to help Levy even more.

"Everyone, listen up, behind Ella will be a door. Natsu, you need to distract her long enough for us to get through that door," Levy told him.

"Why? What's behind that door?" Natsu asked her curiously. Couldn't they get to upstairs through the stairwell?

"The stairs to where the council members are. It is to protect them, that is why Ella is standing guard there," Levy explained. Getting passed Ella would be no easy feat, but if Natsu was helping they just might be able to get passed her.

"Don't worry about a thing Levy, I got this," Natsu told her with a grin. _Even though Natsu is so sure, I still worry. Ella is a strong opponent and shouldn't be taken lightly,_ Levy thought worriedly to herself. Sighing she knew she had to focus on the big fight ahead rather than Natsu's fight with Ella. Whether Natsu won the fight with Ella didn't really matter, what mattered was her fight with Doma.

Finally they reached the fourth floor, which Levy was right about being the top. They pushed open the door to find Ella sitting on the steps that lead to the council with a bored look on her face. _That expression is about to change,_ Levy thought amusingly.

"Careful Natsu, Gajeel, it is easier for her to take over people who she has already taken over before," Levy cautioned. Normally she wouldn't let anyone fight Ella who had been under her control, but Natsu was different. If anyone could beat Ella it was Natsu.

"Don't worry about a thing Levy, I got this," Natsu assured her as his hand started to be engulfed in fire.

"Oh really? Well, someone is chocky. That cockiness will be the death of you," Ella said as her eyes began to glow.

"Careful!" Levy called out to Natsu as he kicked Ella in the face, bringing her successfully down. Natsu waved for the others to go through the door while Ella was down. _Now is when I almost wish I had brought Jet along,_ Levy thought as they all ran to try and get through the door. None of them wanted to miss this window of opportunity. "Are you sure you will be okay?" Levy asked turning around to look at Natsu.

"Yep! Don't worry about me!" Natsu told her as he slammed Ella back down. "Hurry up!" Natsu told Levy. Reluctantly Levy ran up the stairs after the others, leaving Natsu and Ella alone.

"I should have figured that you were trying to get them upstairs. I am kinda surprised your black haired friend didn't join you in this fight. Then again, I do remember something about him being in love with the resistance leader, so I guess it makes sense," Ella commented as she slowly got up. Natsu had had his leg on her, but for some reason his leg just allowed her to get up. "Thank you," Ella said with a smirk as she punched the side of Natsu's face.

"What happened to my leg!" Natsu yelled as he tried to move his leg that wouldn't budge. Earlier it was moving on its own, now it wasn't moving at all! What kind of Dragon Prince would he be if he couldn't even move his leg?

"Simple, that is the power of my body control magic. Cool huh? I can control any part of the body of a person I have already completely taken over their mind once," Ella told him with an evil smirk. _This must be why Levy was so worried. This fight will be harder than I thought, but I can manage,_ Natsu thought to himself.

"Sound pretty fancy to me, but I don't just fight with my legs. In fact, I have long distance spells too. Fire Dragon Roar," Natsu said before hitting Ella with a Fire Dragon Roar, sending her flying. "I know you think you can't win against you, but I have to!" Natsu told her.

"I don't care what you have to do!" Ella told him bluntly. Before Natsu knew what was happening his fist had caught fire and punched him in the face, engulfing his head in flames. Ella laughed, "HA! Now what are you going to do Flame Boy."

"Fire magic doesn't work on me," Natsu said and laughed as Ella got pale. "Fire Dragon Roar," Natsu said as he attacked her with even more force. Ella slammed hard into the wall.

"H-how?" Ella asked confused to what exactly Natsu Dragneel was. "What are you?" Ella asked confused. Before Natsu could answer Ella shook her head and said, "Doesn't matter. If I took control of you once I can do it again!" This made Natsu grin, she was finally seeing him as a real opponent.

"Except last time you took me by surprise. I thought you were a friend, but now I know you are foe. What is more I promised the girl I love that I wouldn't be hurt. Needless to say, I am stronger and this is a totally different battle from last time," Natsu told her with a smirk.

"No, I will win," Ella said with her eyes glowing. The body control mage smirked as her hands started to light up. "I have never had to use this spell before, but I would love to see how it works on an enemy. Full soul control!" she yelled as hands came from the glow. The hands that she had created went around Natsu, trapping him. "Now, ready to be my puppet forever?" Ella asked with an evil laugh. _Wow, this girl is seriously demented,_ Natsu thought to himself.

"Not too fast, don't count me out so quickly," Natsu told her, "that is a fatal mistake." By heating up his body, he heat up the magic, which was connected to Ella. If he heated up the magic enough he could actually burn Ella through it. Igneel had taught him how to do that during their training together.

"Ow!" Ella screeched as the magic went away. The burn had shocked her so much that she stopped using her magic all together and looked down at her now burned hands. "How did you do that?!" Ella asked truly shocked, she had never heard of this happening to anyone before.

"Simple, you aren't the only one wanting to try out new techniques on an enemy," Natsu said before kicking Ella straight in the face, taking her down. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled as he punched her right into the ground. Right when he thought he had won, one of his own hands wrapped tightly around his own neck.

"Too bad the girl you love will have to see you in a body bag!" Ella said laughing evilly as she made his hand tighten around his neck. This was bad, this was really bad! Natsu tried to make his hand stop, but to no luck. Instead of focusing on that hand he decided to try and get the other hand to punch her. Sadly, he couldn't make the other hand move either. _What am I going to do,_ he wondered as his vision began to swim from lack of air. "I have done it! I have taken down the mighty Salamander!" Ella cackled. _Lucy,_ Natsu thought as he started to close his eyes, _I am so sorry._

"Natsu!" Natsu heard a voice making his eyes spring open. With a little effort he was able to see who it was. The voice belonged none other than to his love, Lucy. "Stop!" Lucy yelled with tears running down her face. _I have to save Natsu!_ was all Lucy could think as she watched the man of her affections chock himself. Looking to see why, she then saw Ella. Her mind filling with rage, she charged the other girl, knocking her down. "How dare you hurt him!" Lucy yelled as she punched the girl.

"Oh, I see, you must be Natsu's girl," Ella said with a smirk, "Well, this will be fun." Ella turned her eyes to Natsu, who stopped choking himself. At first he was happy, only to find himself doing a Fire Dragon Iron Fist on Lucy.

"NO!" Natsu yelled. How could he hurt Lucy?! Lucy, being as small as she was, went flying. Ella laughed as she made Natsu go after her and do a Fire Dragon Roar on the celestial spirit mage. "No! Please! Stop! I will do anything!" Natsu pleaded.

"Why would I stop when I am having so much fun?" Ella asked laughing. Lucy was burnt badly and falling in and out of consciousness.

"Natsu…" Lucy said weakly looking up at him. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she smiled at him and said, "I know you don't mean it. Don't worry." Natsu's heart broke at the sight of Lucy in so much pain, so hurt. It hurt him knowing his body was the one that caused it.

"Let's wrap this up," Ella said smirking. Natsu noticed his fist set fire. _NO! I WILL NOT HARM LUCY AGAIN!_ Natsu screamed inside his head. "Huh, what gives?" Ella wondered as she tried to get Natsu to attack again. Instead of him attacking her connection was cut off from an even stronger magic. When Natsu turned around Ella found she had pushed Natsu to full dragon force.

"Go get her," Lucy said weakly. Natsu turned and gave her a smile and a nod before going after Ella. "I… I've always loved you Natsu," Lucy whispered as she closed her eyes. _I think this is it for me, I think I may finally die. At least I was able to admit to Natsu how I felt,_ Lucy thought to herself.

"Lucy!" she heard Natsu yell. A small smile appeared on her lip before she completely blacked out. _I am so glad the last thing I heard was Natsu's voice,_ was the last thought Lucy thought before she surrendered to the darkness.

What Lucy hadn't seen was Natsu's complete rampage on Ella. It was a shock that Ella's body had stayed intact through the entire thing. When Natsu saw Lucy's eyes close, his dragon force went away and concern replaced his rage. Seeing that Ella wouldn't be moving anytime soon, Natsu ran over to Lucy. He held Lucy close in his arms, her pulse was extremely weak. "NOOOOOOOO!" Natsu yelled into the sky as tears fell fast down his face. Lucy couldn't be gone! He had yet to admit to her how he felt! Natsu stood up, with Lucy still in his arms, and started to run back to Fairy Tail. If he got Lucy to Fairy Tail in time then maybe she would be okay! He had to get Lucy to Wendy and stat!

Natsu picked up Ella's communication lacrima and spoke into it so the others heard him, "Guys, I am going back to Fairy Tail. I took out Ella, but Lucy is badly hurt. If I get her to Wendy in time, she might be okay."

"Understood, go," Erza said. Natsu dropped the lacrima and took off toward where Wendy was. _Please, be okay Lucy,_ Natsu thought as he ran.

While Natsu was fighting Ella, the elite team was fighting their own battles. Everyone had their hands full, many were already badly injured.

"It seems your puppets have underestimated us Levy," Gran Doma told her smirking. Levy looked around at her comrades. It was true, many were badly wounded from their fights, but they still were holding up better than the council members.

"I think you should look at your own puppets Doma. They are looking a little worse for wear, as are you," Levy stated smirking herself. They all knew this battle would not be easy, but they were making steady progress. _Hang in there guys,_ Levy thought to herself. She had to make this end quickly, she doubted they could go on too much longer like this.

"Guys! I just got word from Natsu!" Erza called out as she struck her opponent.

"What's the news?" Laxus asked as he did a Thunder Dragon Roar on his own opponent.

"It seems he has taken down Ella," Erza told the group. This made Levy smirk proudly at Doma, she knew he could do it. "But," Erza said sadly.

"But what?" Gildarts asked a little worriedly. Natsu was like a son to him, he would hate for anything to happen to him. After all, he won, so how bad could it really be?

"Lucy was somehow hurt fatally. Natsu is taking her to Wendy for treatment. From the sounds of it, she isn't doing too good," Erza told them as she fended off her enemy.

"Don't get distracted Titania," the enemy mocked.

"I could say the same to you," Erza said throwing them off. "Guys, Natsu sounded in tears," she informed them.

"Oh no… Lu-chan," Levy said gasping. If it was bad enough to push Natsu to tears, it must be really bad.

"I thought I felt something like someone using dragon force, it must have been Natsu," Gajeel commented.

"Probably from Lucy getting hurt," Mira commented. Everyone was surprised at just how well Mira fought since she had pretty much stopped fighting after Lisanna had gone missing. Luckily Lisanna had returned, making Mira be able to fight again.

"See, my side isn't the only side getting hurt," Doma said with a laugh. The news about Lucy had shaken up Levy pretty bad.

"Don't get cocky old man," Gajeel said hitting him hard with his Iron Dragon Club. Doma surprisingly held his ground pretty well against Gajeel. Now, whether this was a testament to Doma's strength or how tried Gajeel was, no one really knew.

"I could say the same to you youngster," Gran said sending Gajeel flying into the wall.

"Gajeel!" Levy cried. Seeing gajeel go flying finally snapped Levy out of her daze. "Solid Script, Iron!" she said before iron appeared in front of Gajeel. Hopefully that would help Gajeel's condition.

"Thanks shorty," Gajeel said eating the iron.

"I heard that dragon slayers could eat whatever element they were, but I didn't believe any human could eat iron," Gran commented. Everyone knew Natsu could eat fire, but people still doubted Gajeel's ability to eat iron from time to time.

"Why does everyone question that?" Gajeel asked as he hit Doma harder than he had in a while. Doma went flying this time. Levy smiled, that was better. Though, hearing fire gave Levy an idea.

"Fire!" she yelled as Doma was engulfed in flames.

"Get thinking!" Gajeel yelled as he made his club into a sword. Getting closer to Doma he started to attack. The fire made his sword hot, making it hurt even more.

"You will never win!" Doma yelled as he grabbed Gajeel's sword. The simple action shocked Gajeel. Doma's hand started to bleed as the sword bit into his skin, but he threw Gajeel. The wind from throwing Gajeel also put out the fire. "As I said, you will never win," Doma said again looking at Levy. With speed that would shock even Jet, he grabbed Levy and held her hostage. "No one move!" he yelled getting a tight grip on Levy.

"Levy!" Gajeel yelled shocked the old man got ahold of the girl.

"Everyone, stop fighting and give up. If you do that, I won't paint the walls red with her blood," Doma told the group. Everyone looked at him disbelievingly. To prove his point he changed his cane to a sword. With the sword he cut Levy's middle, making a deep gash. Levy cried out in pain as fresh blood flowed out off her.

"Levy!" Gajeel yelled. He went to run to her aid, but Doma held the sword a little bit above the deep gash.

"I will make another one for every time one of you move. Which means more to you, your leader or your cause?" he asked laughing evilly. _These dudes are seriously twisted,_ Gajeel thought as the other council members laughed. The group was in a bind, they weren't sure what to do.

"What will Titania's group do now," Erza's opponent mocked. Erza gripped her sword tightly, what could she do? Just when Erza and the others were about to give up, Levy spoke up.

"Don't surrender! This is exactly why they can't rule over us anymore! Fight! Even if I die you all need to fight! They can rip up my skin with a thousand cuts if they want, but that won't change a thing! FIGHT SO NO ONE WILL BE HURT ANYMORE!" Levy yelled, tears running down her face and mixing with her blood.

"Quiet you!" Doma yelled before cutting her again, slightly above the first cut. The entire room, but Doma, flinched at the yell that came from the small girl.

"Please… Fight on," Levy said through gritted teeth.

"You heard her!" Erza cried out. The entire place sprung back into action. This time there was a difference though, the Fairy Tail member's attacks were more vicious than before. They all wanted revenge for them hurting their comrade. Doma decided that Levy was no longer a use for him, so he moved the sword from her stomach to her neck.

"Say goodbye Ms. McGarden," Doma said as the sword bit into her neck. Levy shut her eyes tightly and waited for death to come, only to find that the sword didn't bite in anymore. Once she opened her eyes she noticed Gajeel standing in front of them, a sword to Doma's throat. (This was one of those rare moments Levy was actually glad to be so short.)

"Unhand her or I will cut your head clean off your shoulders," Gajeel stated coldly. His tone was so cold it even scared Levy slightly. Looking into Gajeel's red eyes you could tell he meant it, he was out for blood.

"Y-you couldn't kill. Y-you are t-too weak," Doma said, his voice shaking. While Doma's words said he didn't believe Gajeel's words, his actions spoke differently.

"Oh really? How hard could it be? If Levy did it when she was younger, why couldn't I do it right here?" Gajeel asked with a sharp edge to his voice. Levy wasn't too happy that her past had been brought up, too many bad memories, but at the moment she was too worried about Gajeel. The last thing she wanted was to make Gajeel a killer.

"Y-you w-wouldn't k-k-kill in f-front of Levy," Doma said, his voice was now shaking worse than before. Levy felt the sword start to shake, which made it dig in a little more. This both hurt and made fresh blood spill from her wound. Levy squeaked, which made Gajeel's red eyes darken out of anger.

"Try me, I dare you. I have always wondered what it would feel like to kill a guy," Gajeel stated. His voice was now laced with menace and blood lust. The way Gajeel was speaking made both Levy and Doma shake. Gajeel made the sword bite into Doma's throat, drawing blood. "So what will it be? Die or let Levy go?" Gajeel asked. Scared for his life Doma threw Levy at Gajeel's feets.

"N-Now, j-just p-put the s-sword d-down," Doma stuttered as he put his hands up, dropping the sword. Instead of dropping it Gajeel kept it right where it was, his steely gaze unwavering.

"Nah, I think I am good. After all, you hurt my love pretty badly. The punishment for that is death and with your death our queen can be ruler," Gajeel stated bluntly. He swung his sword, ready to take off Gran Doma's head, only to find something blocking his sword. Upon further inspection he found the word 'barrier' surrounding Doma. Only one person would be able to do a barrier over him so quickly. Looking down at his feet, where Levy lay with one hand on her wounds, the other held up holding up the barrier around Doma, adn said, "Why are you protecting him? He is the enemy!"

"Yes, he is the enemy. Yes, he is a horrid person. Yes, he has hurt me more times than I care to admit. Yes, he deserves to die. But not by your hand, not here. He needs to be tried by the new council, given fair judgment. If we kill him here we are just as bad as him. Plus, I don't want to you to be a murderer like me," Levy said. Her voice was wavering, she sounded both breathless and exhausted. Gajeel was, once again, amazed by his girlfriend's strength and sense of justice after everything that has happened to her.

"Gray, put him in a cage," Gajeel stated as he scooped Levy up in his arms. Gray nodded and put Doma in a cage. "Your leader is in a cage, just give up," Gajeel said, his voice monotone.

"Gajeel," Levy said weakly but worriedly. The rest of the council gave up, worried that Gajeel would rip them limb from limb.

"Arrest them and put them in prison," Gajeel stated.

"Who put you in charge?" Gray asked crossing his arms. Taking orders from Levy was one thing, taking orders from gajeel was completely different.

"LEVY IS SEVERELY HURT AND COULD DIE! SHUT UP FOR ONCE AND LISTEN!" Gajeel roared. The entire room was silenced.

"You heard him," Erza stated. The others nodded and started to put the council in prison, leaving the couple alone.

"Gajeel, set me down," Levy said calmly, but firmly. It really would be best if Gajeel set her down.

"But, you're hurt," Gajeel said, his voice cracking. Looking up Levy saw that he was extremely distraught over her being so hurt.

"Gajeel, trust me," Levy said giving him a smile, but still rather weak, smile. Gajeel reluctantly set Levy down. Levy could barely stand, which broke Gajeel's heart. "Solid Script secret art, heal!" she said before both gashes started to heal on their own. Gajeel's eyes widen as he saw her heal.

"When did you learn that?!" Gajeel asked amazed. Not even Wendy could heal herself. Only that Lima Scale brat could.

"It is a secret art I read about. I have never done it before on myself, but I wouldn't have made it to Fairy Tail before I died," Levy explained to him.

"Wait, if you were on the verge of death, how have you been able to pull off all that magic? That shouldn't be possible," Gajeel stated, still shocked. He had never heard of a wizard being able to do anything like this.

"The experiments they did on me gave me inhuman powers, you just saw a taste of it. To be honest, I could have easily killed Doma, but I don't ever want to murder again. The dead faces of my parents still haunt me," Levy admitted to Gajeel. Gajeel just hugged her and held you close.

"I don't care about any of that, that doesn't change how I feel one bit. I am just happy you are safe. You should make some sort of announcement to everyone though, now that you are healed," Gajeel commented. Levy nodded in agreement, the fight for justice was finally over. They all could finally rest easy. Well, most of them could, some of them would have to help her rebuild the council into what it should have been all along. Levy took Gajeel's hand and went to the balcony the council members normally used for announcements to the people. Squeezing Gajeel hands she lifted her hand up to the sky, in the Fairy Tail salute, and wrote in the sky 'We Won!'

Everyone looked up once they heard to boom of the words lighting up the sky. After seeing that they won the crowd erupted into cheers and held up the Fairy Tail salute. Finally, after so many years of fighting, they could put up their weapons of war and rest easy.

"Long Live Levy!" someone called out from the crowd. Levy blushed at the comment. "Long live Levy!" was soon chanted across the crowd making Levy become bright red. Gajeel laughed and held her hand up he was holding for the world to see.

"Behold! The new council leader, Levy McGarden!" Gajeel called out. Everyone cheered again.

"Okay everyone, calm down. Yes we won the battle, but we haven't won the war. We still need to rebuild the council and there might be people who try to overthrow us still. We need to stay strong, even with this win. Right now those who can stand and carry people, carry the wounded to Fairy Tail. There you will find healers. Our focus for the time being needs to be on the wounded. We can party later, after everyone is known to be okay," Levy told the masses. As soon as she finished talking everyone was a flurry of activity. Everyone was following the new leader's orders without question, they truly respected Levy. For the most part, she had kept everyone safe. There were very few injured, though some were hurt extremely bad. So far no one had died, Levy just hoped it would stay that way. "Gajeel, go help, I will meet you back at Fairy Tail. There is one final thing I need to do," Levy told the iron dragon slayer.

"But-" Gajeel started but Levy held up a hand to silence him.

"Please, just do as I say," Levy said. Reluctantly Gajeel nodded and left. Once Gajeel had left Levy went down to the jail, which was now empty. It seemed the elite team were now all helping getting the wounded to Fairy Tail. That was just perfect for Levy.

"Come to gloat?" Doma asked. Levy turned to see him still holding his neck as he sat in the jail. "You didn't bring your guard dog, did you?" Doma asked.

"No, Gajeel is not with me," Levy told him simply. The former leader of the council let out a sigh of relief, the last thing he wanted to see was Black Steel Gajeel. "Your reign is officially over. You are where you belong. Whether or not I really deserve to rule over the council is irrelevant. I will lead with more justice than you ever will," Levy told him bluntly.

"Power will corrupt you," Doma warned her.

"I have more power in my entire body than you have in your little finger," Levy reminded him, "I highly doubt power will corrupt me now."

"Why did you spare my life?" Doma asked her curiously. Since he had been put into the jail by Titania and the others he had been wondering that. After everything he had done to her, she still saved him from being killed by that monster of a wizard. Perhaps power would never soil the little pixie.

"Easy, I didn't want Gajeel to become a murderer like me. I didn't want him to live knowing he had taken a life. Knowing that ruins you, there were many time where I nearly killed myself because of that. I didn't want that for the one I love. For the record, I haven't spared your life. For your crimes there is no doubt you will be put to the death penalty, but at least then you have been tried, something I never got," Levy told him. Doma couldn't help but smile, justice was what she was all about.

"Justice," Doma said with a smirk. Levy nodded, this was what he deserved.

"Goodbye Doma, I will see you at trial," Levy said before leaving. _Guess I shouldn't have underestimated her? Should have killed her when I had the chance when we first experimented on her. Guess I had this all coming from the moment I decided to release her,_ Doma thought to himself to sigh. Setting her free had proven to be the worse decision of his life.

 **One more chapter, the epilog!**

 _ **With the battle over, what will become of everyone? Will Lucy live? Will Lucy and Natsu be together if she lives? Can Levy handle being the leader of the council? Find out all that and more in Chapter 11: A New lIfe**_


	11. Chapter 11: A New Life

**Here it is! The very last chapter! Hope you all are ready for this!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail... which saddens me**

Chapter 11: A New Life

Luckily for everyone in Fairy Tail Lucy lived. Much to Lucy's shock she woke up to a weepin Natsu saying to "Wake up Lucy, I love you" over and over again. Once he had noticed her awake he had blushed bright red and denied the whole thing for a week. Till he noticed Lucy flirting with a cute waiter. With some pushing, Gajeel literally pushed him into Lucy, Natsu finally asked Lucy out.

"L-Luce, w-will you g-go out with m-me," Natsu said cursing himself for stuttering. He could feel like his face was BRIGHT red. Gray yeling tomato boy at him wasn't helping at all. Before Natsu could yell at Gray he heard Lucy's soft angelic giggle.

"Of course I would Natsu," Lucy said with a small shy smile, her face was dusted with a light blush as she looked him. Natsu scooped Lucy up in his arms, making her blush deepen.

"Hey everyone! Stop hitting on Lucy! She's mine!" Natsu told the entire guild as she held Lucy tight in his arms. Lucy blushed bright red and buried her face into Natsu's chest. Natsu whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, I will protect you, always." Lucy smiled up at him.

"So they finally got together?" Levy asked walking into the guild hall for the first time in a week. Since becoming the leader of the council she tended to be too busy to come to the guild hall, even too busy to go on a date with Gajeel. Gajeel and Levy really only saw each other every couple days, even then it was for no more than an hour.

"Levy!" Lucy called jumping out of Natsu's arms and running to hug her friend. Natsu grinned, it was nice having the blue haired bookworm back.

"Long time no see," Natsu said waving at the girl. Levy gave both Natsu and Lucy a warm smile, happy to have a little free time to be at her guild.

"Hey guys, it is great to be back for a bit," Levy said looking around. Jet and Droy ran up and were fawning over her. Unlike Gajeel, the two hadn't gotten to see Levy at all since she became the leader of the council.

"Is that a pixie I see?" came a rough voice from behind her. When Levy turned around she saw Gajeel coming back with Pantherlily from a job.

"Gajeel!" Levy called running into his arms and hugged him tightly, much to the chagrin of Jet and Droy.

"It has been wrong shorty, what brings you here," Gajeel asked the small girl in his arms.

"I have to talk to master, just talking to all the guild masters about how communication is going to work under the new council. Thought if I was lucky I would see my hunk of a boyfriend, guess I am lucky today," Levy stated, kissing Gajeel.

After Levy had become council leader, the other members were chosen. It was decided that instead of 9 members, they would only have 5. The new council consisted of Levy, Natsu- as representative for the dragons- Lahar, Queen, and Harmony. Gajeel was going to be on it, but Levy decided that her having her boyfriend on the council could cause some issues. Plus, Gajeel liked guild life too much. The council had been quick to make new laws, send apology letters to any torture victims, and free people who were wrongfully imprisoned. This included Jellal, who was now free to date Erza. The council was doing great and getting tons of supports, no one really went against them. A couple months later all the formal council members were sent to death. Everyone was moving on with life.

A year after the rebellion Levy was a nervous wreck. She was currently in her best friend's, Lucy's, apartment. However, the solid script mage was not worried about anything that actually pertained to the magic council at all. Noo, she was a nervous wreck about her double date with Lucy and Natsu. Tonight they were going to a ball hosted by the magic council. Knowing Lucy loved balls, she had invited both Natsu and Lucy- as long as Natsu promised to control himself. Her biggest fear wasn't the fact that Natsu might wreck the place, though that was still a concern no matter how much Lucy said she would contain her boyfriend of a year, but was actually that tonight would be her first public appearance with Gajeel by her side. Yes, everyone knew the two were dating, many questioned why, but no one had seen them together. Tonight she was determined to show the entire nation why her and Gajeel were together. First though, she had pick a dress from Lucy's closet to wear.

"Lu-chan, you have so many!" Levy said, amazed by the vast amount of dresses Lucy owned. These were probably all given to her by the Heartfilla family, she was originally wealthy after all.

"I am sure we can find you the perfect dress for tonight," Lucy announced proudly. Cancer had already done Lucy's hair, she looked exactly like she did when her and Erza went to the casino before they went to the Tower of Heaven. Levy sighed, finding something that would actually make her look stunning would be hard. Luckily for her, the people and Gajeel didn't care about how she looked, only Lucy did. "What about this one?" Lucy asked pulling out a strapless light orange- orange was kind of Levy's color- that came down to her knees. It wasn't all that much to look at, but it was simple, which was perfect for Levy.

"It's perfect!" Levy said as she rushed to get it on. Once she exited the bathroom she had changed in Lucy gasped. The simple dress wouldn't look all that good on her, but Levy made it look stunning. "I am sure Cancer can fix your hair," Lucy stated as she made Levy sit down.

"What is wrong with my hair?" Levy asked a little offended. She really liked her hair style, and so did Gajeel, though he would never admit to it.

"Nothing, it is cute, but this a ball Levy. The first social event that the nation is seeing you and Gajeel at, you MUST look your best. That means you need to do your hair," Lucy told her firmly. Levy sighed, she hated doing her hair. She didn't really bother doing her hair because she normally did paper work and the quick dates her and Gajeel had been having to go on recently didn't last long. Besides, Gajeel liked her the way she was.

"Fine, I guess you are right," Levy said with a sigh. Lucy grinned, glad she won this argument with her best friend.

"Open! Gate of the Crab!" Lucy called out before Cancer came into the room. "Can you make Levy's hair really cute for the ball tonight?" Lucy asked her spirit.

"Anything for you, ebi," Cancer replied before turning to the blue haired girl. Her hair wasn't as long as Lucy's, but at the same time it wasn't extremely short. He noticed the dress she had on was simple, so he figured he should pick a simple hairstyle to go with it. With that in mind he decided on a messy ponytail and two long bangs in the front. "There you go, ebi," Cancer said with a satisfied smile. Levy smiled, it really did look good and luckily it hadn't taken very long either.

"Thanks Cancer!" Lucy said before sending the hairdresser back through the gate. Lucy grinned at her friend, she truly looked very pretty. "Come on, the guys should be picking us up any minute," Lucy told her excitedly. The last time Lucy went to a ball was when she was still a prominent member of the Heartfilla family, it would be nice to go to one as just a Fairy Tail member and good friend of the council leader.

"You mean the limo will be picking us up, the guys just happen to have been picked up first. I just hope Jellal had enough time to get those two into suits," Levy said with a sigh. Originally Levy had also invited Jellal and Erza to come as well, but Jellal said he and Erza had some kind of special reservation that had been planned months ago, so they couldn't attend. To make up for it Jellal promised to make sure both Gajeel and Natsu wore proper suits and looked nice to the event. He really didn't have to make up for anything, but after hearing what he was planning on doing Levy couldn't turn it down.

"Please, he is Erza's boyfriend, I doubt those two can stand a chance up against him. After all, Gajeel is head over heels for you so I really doubt he had much trouble getting Gajeel into a suit. All he had to say was you would like it and Gajeel would be putting it on," Lucy teased her friend, who was now bright red. Was Gajeel really that into her? "Now Natsu on the other hand, he was probably trickier. I have no doubt he is wearing a suit now, but it would have been harder. Who knows, maybe Erza helped as well," Lucy commented with a laugh. Those two would HAVE to wear them if it was both Titania and Titania's boyfriend. The two then decided to head outside to wait for the boys.

Once outside they saw the boys were actually already there. Both men were stand outside the door, there were two doors on one side, waiting for their woman to step inside. Natsu was wearing black pants, a white button up dress shirt, his scarf, and a black vest on top of it all. Lucy had to admit, the vest suited Natsu much more than any tux EVER could. Gajeel on the other hand was actually wearing a tux, perhaps because he was the boyfriend of the council head. His normally unruly hair was brought into a low ponytail and instead of his all white tux, that Levy had expected, he worse a much sleeker black tux that Levy liked MUCH more, and the red tie he was wearing made his eyes pop more than normal. Maybe Jellal should dress them more often.

"You two look…" Lucy said at a loss of words. Sure, Jellal was scarier and even scarier when he brought Erza along, but she never expected him to make their men look so good!

"Amazing," Levy said finishing for her blonde friend.

"You two don't look half bad yourselves," Natsu commented with his trademark grin. Lucy laughed, of course he couldn't just say they looked nice.

"You look amazing," Gajeel told Levy, kissing Levy's forehead. This caught Levy off guard, sure Gajeel could be romantic, but it wasn't too often that she got forehead kisses. At least not when they were going for a date, it was normally when she was upset. _He must be up to something,_ Levy thought suspiciously, but decided not to mention it, not wanting him to stop.

"Driver, to the ballroom now," Levy told him. Knowing exactly what the small girl meant, the driver started towards where the ball was going to be.

"So? How did Jellal get those suits onto you two?" Lucy asked with a giggle. Lucy was sure whatever the story was, it would be funny.

"Actually," Gajeel said trying not to throw up, he hated car rides, "Jellal just came over and threw the outfits at us. He said they were the ones that you two would like the most. I was planning on wearing my white suit before he came though."

Levy rested her head on his shoulder and stated, "I guess I just like you a lot better in black." Lucy would have complemented Natsu, but she was currently stroking his hair as he curled up in her lap moaning. Poor guy got motion sick a lot worse than Gajeel ever did. "Are you okay Gajeel? I know you get motion sick as well," Levy commented, worried about her boyfriend.

"Don't worry about me shorty, I'm fine," Gajeel told her putting up a brave front. He really should have agreed with Natsu when he said that they should get a Troia from Wendy before picking up the girls, he was nervous enough as is! Oh well, too late for that now.

Before they knew it they were already at the ballroom anyway. A red carpet was put down leading to the entrance. As guest came they walked up to the red carpet and into the ball inside. People were lined up on either side of the red rope to get a look at the who's who of the wizard world.

"Ready for this shorty?" Gajeel asked Levy taking her hand.

"Who would have thought I would have Black Steel Gajeel worried about me," Levy teased, trying to lighten the mood before they made their public appearances.

"Who would have thought you would have the Iron Dragon Slayer head over heels for you," Gajeel countered with a smirk. Levy laughed, she had to admit he was right.

"Okay, okay, you win. Now let's go," Levy said as they opened the door. Once the doors opened flashing lights came and Levy could hear the sound of a news reporter, probably from Sorcerer's Weekly.

"Stepping out of the limo is first one of Fairy Tail's beauties, Lucy Heartfilla! Coming out next is the amazing Salamander, also of Fairy Tail. After him comes Black Steel Gajeel, formally from Phantom Lord, but currently a Fairy Tail wizard," came the reporter. Gajeel growled when he heard his past mentioned, remembering what he did to Levy- the love of his life.

"Gajeel, calm down, it'll be fine," Levy told him with a smile as he helped her out. The entire crowd went crazy when they saw that Levy was the next person out. Seems most of the crowd had come to see her anyway. It wasn't everyday the new council head made an appearance. With all the great things that she had done within the last year everyone really wanted to meet her. Levy was by far one of the most liked wizards of the nation, if not the most.

"That is right viewers! the crowd has just gone crazy because none other than Levy McGarden, our beloved council leader, has come out of the limo with Gajeel!" the reporter said. Flashes of bright light blinded them as they tried to get into the ballroom.

"Geeze Levy, you sure are popular," Natsu commented as he nearly tripped.

"Well what do you expect? She IS the new leader of the council. Not only that, but I don't think the magical community has even been this open and working this well together," Lucy commented on her friend's successes. Levy blushed as she let Gajeel, who could probably see much better than herself at the moment, lead her to the ballroom.

"Levy? Is it true that you are dating Gajeel?" a reporter asked. The question seemed so silly to Levy, since she was currently holding hands with him, she had said that she was dating him during several interviews, and she had come to the party with him. What else could he be other than her boyfriend?

"Yes, Gajeel Redfox is my boyfriend," Levy told the reporter before Gajeel dragged her off. Gajeel really wasn't cut out for the lime light. Too bad for him he was dating Ms. Levy McGarden.

Once they entered the ballroom they all just paused to take in the beauty. The ballroom was completely decked out in silver and gold, the chandelier that was breathtaking, the dance floor already had people slow dancing on it, and, Natsu's personal favorite, the food bar was fully stocked. Before Natsu could run to the food Lucy grabbed his collar.

"Listen, you are not spending your entire night stuffing your face at the food bar. I expect to have a dance with you, at least one," Lucy told Natsu firmly.

"No problem Luce, of course I will dance with you. But first I want to eat," Natsu said before running off to the food. Lucy sighed, but couldn't help but smile. _That's my Natsu,_ Lucy thought fondly as she giggled at him stuffing his face with the food.

"I hope Levy has enough food," Lucy mumbled to herself with a small smile.

"Gajeel, let's dance. You do remember how to dance, right?" Levy asked teasingly. Both of them couldn't help but lightly blush at the memory of him dancing with her all the years ago, even though Levy hadn't actually asked him to dance with her. Since then they hadn't shared a dance together.

"Of course I do, do you pixie?" Gajeel said with a grin.

"Let's find out," Levy said excitedly as she took her love's hands in hers and took him to the dance floor. The door slow danced as everyone watched in awe. No one had seen Levy so relaxed in public so. They also hadn't seen her smile like she was when she was in Gajeel's arms. The head of the council was simply radiant around the man.

"You are better than that day I think," Gajeel told her with a kiss. Levy happily kissed back. Right then she felt like she was floating in the clouds.

Once Lucy saw Levy floating on clouds she decided it was time for her and Natsu's dance. Grabbing her boyfriend from the food bar he was currently at, which of course made him whine, she took him to the dance floor. "Dance with me," Lucy said with a small smile. Natsu grinned and took her hands. For a while to two just danced in comfortable silence, enjoying the music and just being near each other. Till Natsu broke the silence between the two.

"I spoke to Igneel yesterday," Natsu said seriously. This didn't surprise the celestial spirit mage, Natsu spoke to Igneel at least once every two or so weeks to either report on something or just to talk to his dad. Why Natsu was suddenly all serious did surprise the celestial mage. From what she knew, the two were hardly ever serious.

"And?' Lucy prodded her suddenly serious boyfriend. _Did something happen to Igneel or something,_ Lucy wondered. Natsu did say he had talked to him, so Igneel couldn't have been found dead or anything.

"Igneel said that I need to come back for another year or two of training," Natsu finally told her flatly, "I talked to Master and he said I could take that off and still be a member of Fairy Tail." _He's dancing around the issue,_ Lucy thought, _that is a year or two of use not being able to be with each other, probably hardly seeing each other at all!_ The last year for the couple had been like heaven. Neither expected that they could ever be as happy as they were together. Now it sounded like all that would come to an end.

"Oh, so that means you are moving to Caelum then," Lucy asked remembering her visit to the Dragon's Nest very well. It was hard to believe it had been a year since then already. Now it sounded like Natsu had to go back for more training since he had been crowned prince.

"Yes, Igneel said it would be easiest for me just to move back there, but he did say it wouldn't be as intense as the month training we did a year ago since we are stretching it out," Natsu told the blonde girl in his arms. _Wait, is he telling me he will have free time? Why?_ Lucy wondered confused.

"When do you leave?" Lucy asked sadly. Losing Natsu, even if it only for a year or two, sounded like torture.

"Well, as early as next month," Lucy's heart fell when Natsu said that, "but I would like to ask something of you. you can decline if you want, you saying yes or no to this does not weigh in on our relationship. Even if you say no I will still love you."

"What is it?" Lucy asked a little worried, it wasn't usual for Natsu to ask something of her. Normally it was her asking him to do something.

"Lucy, I want you to move in with me," Natsu told her gently. As soon as Lucy heard what he wanted she stopped dancing and just stood still, looking at her love. If she moved in with Natsu then she wouldn't have to not be able to see him for a year or two, plus the dragons could help her with more training. She was sure Loke would love to spare with some of the dragons again, Grandeeney had given them some great advice. If Master said that Natsu could take off then he should also let her go too, right? "You don't have to say yes of course," Natsu said nervously since Lucy hadn't responded right away.

"Natsu," Lucy said looking up at him with tears in her eyes. At first Natsu freaked out because he had caused her to cry.

"I-I didn't mean to make you cry Luce. Please don't cry. I will be back as often as I can, you don't have to come. And I am sure-" before Natsu could finish whatever ramble speech that came to mind he was cut off by Lucy kissing him. At first Natsu was too shocked to kiss back, but soon he melt into the kiss and kissed Lucy back.

When the broke apart Lucy finally answered him, "Of course I will come with you. I will talk to Master about taking a break as well to be with you during your training, I'm sure he will let me. Plus Grandeeney will probably help me train again, which was a big help. Most importantly though, I won't have to be away from you." Natsu breathed a sigh of relief before holding Lucy close to him, happy he wouldn't have to live a year or two without the love of his life.

"I am so glad you will come with me," Natsu told her smiling. The couple had very little time to be happy about the thought of them finally moving together before the part went from pleasant to hectic.

A gunshot rang out through the ballroom. After the first shot was fired two more sounded after it. Everyone looked around for who fired the shots as Natsu held onto Lucy protectively.

"Levy," Lucy said worriedly as she looked around for the blue haired council head. Were they trying to kill Levy, whoever it was? Levy had mentioned before that some people still wished the old council was around, but did they wish it so much that they would kill Levy? Were people that against change?

"Where is she?" Natsu asked, who was just as worried as Lucy. After all, Levy was a friend and guildmate. The two finally found both Levy and Gajeel, who just a few moments ago had been dancing happily. Gajeel had stopped the bullets with his Iron Dragon club just in time. Luckily the shots fired had pretty much just helplessly bounced off of Gajeel's metal, leaving both Fairy Tail wizards unharmed. Lucy and Natsu both sighed in relief, but were still slightly on edge. Did that kind of thing happen to Levy a lot? Just what kind of danger was their friend in?

"Are you okay Levy?" Gajeel asked worriedly. Quickly he began to examine his girlfriend for any wounds, which made the smaller girl giggle. To her Gajeel was always cute when he suddenly became worried over her.

"I am fine, really Gajeel. You protected me, like always," Levy said cupping Gajeel's cheek and trying to calm him down. She slowly stroked her thumb across his cheek, smiling sweetly up at the man. Even though Levy seemed fine, Gajeel still was a little worried.

"You positive?" Gajeel asked her. Before she could assure him that yes, she was positive, Lucy and Natsu came running over.

"You two okay?" Lucy asked looking worriedly at her two friends.

"Yeah, we're fine. Gajeel is just a bit shaken by it," Levy told her two guests. Sadly Gajeel's tux had ripped from his spell, but that wasn't going to stop them from staying at the ball. "Everyone! Don't worry! Proceed as planned!" Levy called out to all of the guests at the ball. Little by little everyone did what their leader said to and soon the part was just like before, like nothing had ever even happened.

"Does that normally happen to you? Normally people would be pretty shaken that someone just tried to kill them," Natsu pointed out. Both Gajeel and Lucy nodded in agreement with the pink haired man.

"People were constantly trying to kill me when I was the resistance leader and when I first became council head people did try to kill me as well, guess I just got use to it. This hasn't happened in months though. I should probably speak with Lahar about it in the morning," Levy said with a shrug. To her this was no big deal, to everyone else this was rather worrisome.

"Are you sure you are going to be okay?" Lucy stressed, the last thing they need was Levy dying on them. After everything everyone had done to try and keep her alive, her dying would just make everything they did for nothing.

"Yes, I am sure Lu-chan. Besides, security will be a lot tighter since that happened. My guess is that Lahar is already trying to get the person who shot at me. I have no doubt that the person will be caught before they leave the building, perhaps they are already caught. Do not doubt my staff," Levy told Lucy with a smile. Lucy's eyes widened, did they really have things that under control since Levy took office?

"If you don't find them tonight I can send Skiadrum around and see if he can find anything," Natsu offered. Since Natsu had become part of the council Skiadrum had worked as a sort of spy for the council. Surprisingly the dragon actually loved the new job, mainly because he got to listen in on 'stupid humans' conversation without them knowing.

"Thank you Natsu, I will let you know if that is needed. I don't think it will be, but you never really know I guess," Levy told him gratefully. Skiadrum had truly become great help since he agreed to work as one of their informants.

"Oh, I needed to tell you, I will be leaving soon to move to Caelum for a year or two. Igneel would like me to do more training since I am their newly crowned prince," Natsu told the pixie like girl.

"No problem, can you still make it every month for at least a brief meeting? I still need to know how the dragons are doing. Queen would kill me if I didn't keep tabs," Levy asked him.

"Yeah, Igneel said I would have time off anyway. If I can't come over I will send Skiadrum or someone else over with the information," Natsu promised her.

"Thank you, that will be a big help. The last thing I want to do is to anger Queen," Levy said shuttering. The last time she angered Queen she got an hour talking to about what it meant to be 'proper'. "I think I am going to go get some food now. All that excitement sure made me hungry," Levy told them before turning to go to the food bar, which was mostly wiped out due to a certain dragon slayer.

"Wait," Gajeel said taking her hand. Levy turned to look at the black haired man to see his eyes filled with worry and, was it nervousness? Why would Gajeel be nervous around her anymore?

"What's wrong Gajeel?" Levy asked him concerned. It wasn't like him to stop her from doing something, it also wasn't like him to look so nervous.

"Seeing you like that, almost dead, it made me realized that I can't wait any longer," Gajeel told her, his voice shaking slightly. The fact that his voice was shaking worried Levy even more.

"Gajeel, what's wrong?" Levy asked again, equally worried. Fidgeting Gajeel took something out of his pocket. _What on Earthland could he possibly have in his pocket,_ Levy wondered. Seeing Gajeel this nervous was a rare and disturbing sight.

"Levy, you are the only one I have ever loved. My entire life I believed I could never really love a woman, till I met you. You are so kind, sweet, smart, strong, and beautiful that I can't even believe you actually asked me out. Since I wasn't man enough to ask you out I decided that I needed to be man enough to do this," Gajeel told her before getting down on one knee and asking, "Levy McGarden, will you do me the honor in becoming Levy Redfox instead?" The entire ballroom stood still and stared at the couple. Had that guy serious just asked Levy McGarden to marry him?! Lucy covered her mouth in shock and Natsu smiled approvingly. Everyone in the room awaited Levy's response.

With tears in her eyes Levy responded, "Yes Gajeel, I will marry you!" Gajeel broke out into a grin, which only got widen when Levy tackled him and kissed him hard. The entire room cheered for the happy couple.

"I am so glad they can finally be happy," Lucy said with a small smile. Finally the two could be an ordinary couple, if that was even possible for the two of them.

"I'm just shocked Gajeel actually asked her, I always figured Levy would ask Gajeel to marry her," Natsu commented making Lucy laugh.

Everything truly was perfect. Lucy was moving in with Natsu, Erza and Jellal had FINALLY gotten together, Levy was the best council leader anyone had ever seen, and now Levy and Gajeel were going to get married. Everyone was finally moving on from the past and all they could see was an extremely bright future. _Of course, my future is always right as long as Gajeel is in it,_ Levy thought happily, admiring her new ring.

 _ **I hope you all enjoyed this story! Please head over to my journal and let me know what you want to see next! I am having some trouble deciding what story I should write next... I am sure I will figure it out! But please help!**_

 _ **I am write a One-Shot of all of their kids getting their guild marks while I am still between stories. Tell me what you think about that! Please review! Don't forget to comment on my journal either!**_


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